Fields of Flour and Gold
by Lycanwolff
Summary: Atsushi Murasakibara was big and lazy, known as the terrifying center for the Generation of Miracles, but when he finally stands up against his overbearing and overly strict father, he is shipped off to his uncle's in the countryside. He hates it there, but when he meets his uncle's farm hand, suddenly, being on a farm doesn't seem to be so bad.
1. Chapter 1

**Fields of Flour and Gold**

A _KnB_ Fanfiction

By: Lycanwolff

 **Chapter 1**

 **Author's Note: My posting schedule is still going to be every day of the week, just the time of which is up in the air. Have no fear though! Read and enjoy Fields of Flour and Gold, requested by xxxLucyxharemfanxxx. ^_^**

The sound of a train traveling upon its tracks was a rhythmic one, one that was capable of lolling off the strongest of minds into a blissful sleep whether the eyes were open, or closed. It was a heavy sound, firmly set on the long rails of steel that stretched across the land, and for one such mind that stared out the giant window to watch the world go by, he was lost in thought as his father's words repeated over and over in his head.

 _"You will do what we tell you! You will be an athlete whether you like it, or not!"_

The man's voice had been furious, so angry, so heated every time he spoke, sprays of spittle would fly from his lips. He remembered being angry back, standing his ground against the man whom could look him dead in the eye despite his 6'10 height.

 _"I don't wanna be an athlete! It's not what I want! I don't wanna play basketball anymore!"_

He slowly blinked as he stared out the window, elbow pressed into the armrest of his seat with his chin in his hand. He had screamed back, balled his large fists in anger, but he couldn't stop himself as his father continued.

 _"That's not your decision to make! You're a Murasakibara and that's what we do! Your grandfather played for Yōsen, I played for Yōsen, your brothers played for Yōsen and so will you!"_

A single tear fell from his eye, hidden by the direction his head was turned to disappear beneath his chin. He hadn't been able to stop remembering and not even the music that blared in his ears from his earbuds was helping to erase his mind.

 _"I won't, and if you don't like, you can go to hell!"_

Another tear fell free from the same eye as his cheek began to sting, remembering the slap he had earned from his father and how his mother gasped from the action. He remembered how she cried and sat down on the couch as if she had been the one to receive the slap, and as he stood there, lavender eyes wide from shock in the living room of his parents home, his father had done the unthinkable.

 _"You aren't my son. No son of mine will be so lazy, so bereft of direction and so callous and no son of mine will live under this roof. Tomorrow you **will** go live with your uncle. He can deal with you and if your actions get you kicked out from there too, don't bother coming back here because you are not welcome. This is not your home... Now get out."_

He remembered that after that, he had only had enough to time pack a single duffel before being ushered out of the front door where it closed behind him with a slam. The sun was going down and needing a place to stay, he had gone to a friends house and crashed on their couch. He remembered that the next morning, his mother had called him and told him to meet her at the train station. With nowhere else to go, he did, where she handed him an envelope with his one way ticket, gave him a shallow hug and left with tears filling her eyes. She had climbed into a car with dark tinted windows and knowing the car to be his father's, the man drove off without even getting out to say goodbye.

With nowhere else to go, Atsushi Murasakibara got on that train bound for the countryside.

It had been a long journey, where he just sat, listened to music and stared out the window, replaying the last day's events over and over and over. It made him feel alone, set adrift in the middle of the ocean with no idea where to go. He didn't know what to do, or whom would be waiting for him on the other side, if anyone was there at all. He didn't even know if his uncle knew he was coming, as he knew his father was not the kind of man to call someone he didn't like.

He hadn't been to his uncle's farm for years, having been so long that he didn't even remember where he lived, let alone what color the house was. His uncle and his father didn't get along, much to his mother's pleas, and no matter how hard she tried, or how hard she cried, she never got to see her older brother.

He was finally jarred from his head when the train lurched as it began to slow, gently rocking from side to side as it trundled down the tracks into the approaching station. There wasn't a skyscraper in sight. Just trees, farm fields and livestock and every so often, if he looked hard enough, he caught glimpses of old farm houses hidden between those trees. It was so different than Akita, so different from Yōsen High and as the train's breaks squealed like a banshee as it came into the small, rather quaint station, the speakers over his head crackled to life.

 _"Now arriving at Gōrudou Kogumi Station. All passengers reaching their final destination, please step off onto the platform once we have come to a complete stop and exit through the designated doors. Thank you."_

Atsushi drew in a deep breath as he turned off his music and pulled his earbuds out, letting them drape around his neck as he heaved up his duffel and slung it over a shoulder. The train was crawling the last little bit up to the platform as he headed for the exit door, not even looking out the windows at the small crowd of people waiting for the train to stop. He frankly didn't care as he stood by the door, waiting silently and ignoring the stares of the others gathering around him. He was tall, incredibly so, hard to miss in a crowd and with shoulder length purple hair he let hang without a care. A Pocky stick stuck out of his mouth, had been the entire hours long trip and every time a small child stared at him with want, he merely glared back. The large box that carried more was protectively stuffed into the pocket of his hoodie, right along with his phone, and as the train finally stopped with a loud, drawn out hiss, the doors slid open and allowed him to get off.

He chewed away his treat as he stopped on the platform, clutching the shoulder strap as he scanned the modest crowd and looking for a man he wouldn't recognize. His mother had purple hair just like him, so he figured looking for the same would help narrow it down, but when he saw none with such hair, he sighed, let his broad shoulders droop and stuffed another Pocky into his mouth.

"Hey, Killer."

The sudden voice somewhat startled him as Atsushi turned around, scanning the crowd again, but again, he saw nothing. His purple brows furrowed with disappointment, but that's when he remembered that he had taken after his father when it came to vertical reach. He looked down.

Standing shorter than he by a full foot, was a middle aged man no older than his father, with shaggy dark purple hair and violet eyes. He looked oddly like his mother, but just by looking at the man, he could tell he was worked to the bone. He was a thick man, having large enough arms to make him think twice about making him angry and the way his dark purple eyes glared up at him definitely told him that this man was his uncle, as he and his mother shared the same, fiery glare.

"Uh... H-Hi, Uncle Hiroshi." Atsushi said dully as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"You forgot I was down here didn't you." Hiroshi scoffed, his glare never letting up as he lightly frowned.

Atsushi sunk into his shoulders, "Uh... Maybe?"

Hiroshi groaned as he rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily before looking back up at the 16 year old tower of a kid. He had no idea how his little sister had been able to birth such a monster on her own, but somehow, someway, a woman whom only stood 5'3 had been able to push out a baby that weighed 25 pounds and had grown into a 6'10, 218 pound pile of framework that was held together with lazy stubbornness and candy wrappers.

"That all you brought?" Hiroshi asked, motioning with his chin at the duffel Atsushi carried.

Atsushi just nodded.

"Come on... The truck's parked out front." Hiroshi said as he turned and just walked away.

Atsushi blinked as his uncle walked away with heavy footsteps, the kind of footsteps of a man whom has spent a lifetime working fields and handling livestock. They were confident, strong even, but when that man stopped and glanced back at him over his shoulder, he realized he was being left behind.

He shook his head clear and started after him, his giant strides catching him up without too much effort. He followed him through the crowd which was easily done since he could look over most of everyone's head and as they left the small station, the evening sun's rays hit his eyes, causing Atsushi to cringe at the brightness and shield them with his hand.

"Come on, Eiffel Tower... Sun's going down and I'm hungry." Hiroshi grunted as he fiddled in his pant's pocket for the keys to his aged truck.

Atsushi's eyes adjusted enough to let him see his uncle reach an old American truck, all battered, beat up and bruised from years, decades even of hard work. Dings, dents and even scratches littered it from nose to tail and a long crack streaked across the windshield. The truck was a standard cab with a single bench seat and had a long bed that was filthy with debris from hay, feed and even manure. It stunk and made him crinkle his nose, but without room in the cab for his bag, let alone him, he was left to toss it into the bed.

"Relax... It's just manure." Hiroshi rolled his eyes as he opened the truck's door and climbed up into the driver's seat.

"Poop... Manure is poop." Atsushi grumbled, frowning and refusing to put his bag in the bed.

Hiroshi sighed, "From cows... Think of it like processed grain and hay." His shoulders slumped as he waited for Atsushi to get in.

"Poop, Uncle Hiroshi." Atsushi deadpanned.

"Oh, for the love a-" Hiroshi hissed, climbing back out of the truck before he expertly climbed into the bed over the side and started scuffing his work boots to kick aside the debris.

Atsushi dully chewed his Pocky as he watched, huffing out another breath to ride his sinuses of the heavy stench, but when he came under the man's familiar glare again, he shied into his shoulders and looked away.

After a few moments, Hiroshi hopped down from the truck, glaring at him the whole time as he climbed back into the driver's seat and shut the old door hard with a heavy metal thunk. He really didn't like the idea of putting the only belongings he had in a filthy bed like that, but with no other choice, Atsushi groaned and tossed his bag in before squeezing into the cab.

"City kids." Hiroshi grumbled out loud as he inserted the ignition key and turned the cranky truck over.

With a shutter, the engine roared to life, being loud, a bit smokey and grouchy, much like the man sitting in the driver's seat. It was yet another stench to add to his sinuses, but with no way to get rid of it, he just had to accept it with a grumble and a crinkled nose.

"I didn't get a choice to live in Akita." Atsushi huffed, craning his right leg up to his chest to make room for his 6'10 frame to slouch.

Hiroshi scoffed as he jammed the shifter into first gear with a tired grind, "Yeah, well... Neither did your mother." He pulled out of the parking spot.

Atsushi sent the man a sidelong glare, "How did you know I was coming?" He asked, stuffing another stick into his mouth.

The man's scowl softened as he drove, "Your mom called me." He leaned back into the seat and rested his wrist on the top of the steering wheel.

"Bet Dad was pissed." Atsushi grumbled as he opted to look out the cracked windshield.

"Doubt he knows." Hiroshi's scowl returned as he pressed in the clutch and shifted gears.

Atsushi shifted his gaze to study the man as the trunk throttled along, rocking from side to side from every little discrepancy in the road since the suspension was pretty much shot. The truck rode like shit, the road surface was shit, everything smelt like shit and Atsushi was pretty sure he was sitting in shit. Being in the countryside sucked and with just a scoff, he turned his attention back to looking out the window.

"You've really done it now, Kid." Came his uncle's voice suddenly, breaking the drone of the truck as he turned onto the two lane country road.

"Huh?" Atsushi breathed dully, finally tearing his eyes away from golden sky to look at the man.

"Your Dad... Your Mom said he's furious when I talked to her." Hiroshi said, drawing in a deep breath that he let out in a long sigh.

Atsushi scoffed, "All because I didn't wanna play basketball anymore." He grumbled as he planted his elbow on the window sill and plopped his chin down in his palm.

"Why not, if I can ask?" Hiroshi asked as he briefly glanced at the boy before looking back out at the road.

Atsushi half shrugged, "Didn't wanna... It's boring and not fun anymore. After middle school, I just wanted to be done."

"He wouldn't let that happen, would he." Hiroshi said plainly.

Atsushi shook his head, "Nope... Just waiting at this point for my phone to get cut off." He didn't bother to look away from the window.

"Your mom said it'll stay on. That's all she was able to broker from that asshole. Used the reasoning 'what happens if he changes your mind' to convince him." Hiroshi said, shifting his voice into a fake feminine tone as he shifted into fifth gear to set their cruising speed.

Atsushi huffed out through his nose, "Lucky me." He said in his monotone.

Hiroshi's brows furrowed as he glanced at the boy, noticing the defeated look, that far off gaze as if he was waiting for the view to swallow him up. His young face was expressionless, completely void of any clue to what was going through his head, but he didn't need to ask to have an inkling.

"She told me to tell you that she loves you... If it means anything." Hiroshi said with a sigh as he drove.

Atsushi shrugged, "If that was the case, she wouldn't have let Dad kick me out." He still didn't look away from the window.

"He'll never change... You know that right?" Hiroshi asked.

"Yeah... I know." Atsushi said almost too quietly as he chewed his Pocky down in favor of a new one.

"If I had any sort of words of encouragement for ya, I'd give them, but I'm not really good with kids. As far as I'm concerned, you're cheap labor." Hiroshi said, huffing a pathetic smirk as he slowly shook his head.

Atsushi visibly stiffened, "I didn't come out here to work."

"Like hell you did. You ain't living under my roof and not working, so you better get used to early mornings and long days." Hiroshi scoffed.

Atsushi gulped hard as that made him look away from the window, glaring sternly at the man whom didn't meet his angry glare.

"Hire help." Atsushi scowled as he returned to looking out the window with his chin resting in his hand.

Suddenly, Atsushi was launched forward when the truck, somehow, managed to stop in less than the length of a runway, sending his forehead into the hard dash with a painful slam that rattled his brain. The Pocky in his mouth shattered into pieces and fell to the floor and as he cringed from the hit, pressing his hands into his forehead to battle against the pain, he was suddenly face to face with a very angry man whom had snatched a fistful of his hoodie and yanked him across the truck.

"Listen here, you little slug... No one gets a free ride out here. You either work, or you starve, and judging that you haven't stopped eating this garbage since you got off the train, you rather like eating. You want a meal in my house, you fucking work for it. Do you hear me?" Hiroshi snapped, reaching into Atsushi's hoodie pocket and throwing the Pocky box out the window.

Atsushi gulped, "That hurt." He said, tensing his jaw as he forcibly took in breaths to keep from blowing his top.

"Are you bleeding?" Hiroshi asked, his voice firm, but still sounded as if he actually meant it.

However, Atsushi stayed quiet as he just stared another moment before pressing his hand to his forehead once more and looked at it, thankfully seeing no blood. His head throbbed, but it wasn't bleeding and as he looked back to the dash where his head had struck, he saw that he had actually dented it.

"No." Atsushi said, his lips pursed together to hide that the bottom one was quivering.

"Good... Your mother would kill me if I broke her kid." Hiroshi said as he released his grip on Atsushi's hoodie and threw the truck back into drive.

Atsushi pressed his hand into his head again as he sat up and settled his hoodie, opting to stare out the window instead of trying to say anything else. His head stung, his chest hurt and every time he took a breath, it stunk. The sound of the trunk groaning as it drove along was like nails on a chalkboard, scratchy and squeaking as the suspension tried to function, but failed every time. He hated it here, hated how clear the sky was, and how the air couldn't make up its damn mind what it wanted to smell like. One minute it was manure, the next corn, the minute after that was cow, then pig, then horse, and it was just too much. It was giving him a headache and he was finding, that the more his uncle drove, and the deeper the sun dipped, the more he wanted to go home.

Just as the sun sunk below the horizon, his uncle slowed the truck and turned down a long dirt road, drawing Atsushi out of his head that he had nearly gotten completely lost in. Dust billowed out from behind the truck, but as Atsushi finally looked at, and actually saw what was out the window, he realized that they had arrived.

The farm was small, but to him, it was a huge swath of land, being acres upon acres, many of which had been tilled to support crops. Corn and soy grew in the fields, and chickens scurried to get out of the road before getting run over as they passed. A whole acre was dedicated to groomed green lawn and right in the middle of it was a tall metal windmill that lazily turned with what little breeze was outside. Flowers grew at its base and strung up on the wrap around porch of the small farmhouse was a myriad of wind chimes that sang their songs of different tones.

The house itself, was two stories, painted a soft yellow with dark green trim and wide open windows. A metal rooster was mounted to its peak with a windsock that would turn it whatever direction the wind was blowing and poking out from behind it, he could see the deep red color of the barn where an old tractor was parked out in front. It was a quiet little place, calm and slow and just looking at it made him feel as if time had stopped.

His uncle slowed the truck and pulled in front of the closed garage door, stopping a bit roughly before jamming the shifter into first gear and turning off the truck for blissful silence where Atsushi finally got to hear what the countryside sounded like. It sounded like chimes and barking dog as a medium sized mutt bounded off the porch and ran straight for Hiroshi.

"Move back, Dummy! I'm trying to get out!" Hiroshi snapped at the dog as he opened the door and stepped out of the truck.

Atsushi slowly exhaled before opening his door and stepping out, stretching tall to put his head above the already tall truck. It was cramped in there and as he stretched his arms up high over his head for more impossible height, a clearing of a throat caught his attention.

"How's your head?" Hiroshi asked, leaning against the bed rail of the truck with his hands clasped together.

"Fine." He said as he rubbed the meat of his wide shoulders.

"Yeah... Sorry about that. I forgot how tall you are." Hiroshi said as he too, rubbed the back of his neck.

"You're truck's too small." Atsushi said, blowing out a stiff breath before looking, and frowning, into the bed of the truck where his bag was covered with dust.

Hiroshi scoffed, "Can't help it. I can't afford a new one, so I'll just have to keep the ol' girl working until the day she truly is dead." He firmly patted the side of his old truck.

"Which was what?... Couple years back?" Atsushi deadpanned.

Hiroshi choked on his laugh and smiled as he dropped his head, "Yeah... Probably. I'm driving a zombie."

Atsushi shrugged as he brushed off his bag and lifted it from the bed, slinging it back over his shoulder as he looked around. Everything was so quiet. No cars drove by, no one was talking, the wind blew without being held back by tall buildings made of steel and glass. It was so different than Akita, so unknown to him that he had no idea what to do.

"Come on, Kiddo... Tonight's your only free meal."

He stood still a moment while he watched his uncle head towards the house, giving it one last glance before starting after him, or risk getting locked out of another house for all he knew. He reached the porch just as his uncle unlocked and opened the door and stopping just shy of it, Atsushi groaned as he ducked his head and stepped over the threshold.

So far, the countryside didn't lie, as where the house looked small from the outside, it was definitely small on the inside. His head was only a foot below the ceiling and every doorway, every archway, he was going to have to duck to get through. The hallways weren't wide and if and his uncle ever got caught in the same one, someone was going to have to duck into a room just to get out of the others way. There wasn't much he could do to complain about it, and as he followed his uncle up the stairs, taking it slow to keep his bag from dragging against the wall, he was lead to his room where his frown deepened.

The bed was short.

"Really?" Atsushi deadpanned with a sigh as he stepped into the small room and dropped his bag down onto the floor.

"Best I got, Kiddo. Dinner's in an hour. Be down by then."

Atsushi turned to say something, anything, but his uncle was already gone, having left the door open to at least help him feel as if he wasn't in prison. He ran a hand back over his purple hair, raking it out of his face as he blew out a long blow of air that puffed his cheeks, looking down at the bed he highly doubted he could make his whole body fit on it. It was a simple bed with a wooden frame, and the only saving grace was that it was a full instead of a twin.

He shuttered at the thought before sitting down, bouncing softly before the bed groaned and settled from the weight. It wasn't all that bad comfort wise, but the blankets and sheets felt weird to his touch. He could feel the stitching, see tiny little imperfections in the shapes that had been sewn into the fabric and in the top corner that hung off the bed, he saw a small fleck of stuffing sticking out from between the two layers.

His head still hurt too much for him to think as to why, so instead of trying, he stood and scooped up his bag to unpack. He only had a few pairs of pants and a handful of shirts, a couple pairs of shoes with socks and underwear and his bathroom things. It was all he was able to pack and if it was going to be all he was going to live off of, laundry was going to have to be daily.

Finding that he had lucked out and his clothes had been spared the stench of manure, he pulled his hair back to get it out of his face before heading back downstairs, but the second he stepped into the hallway, his nose was hit with an aroma he hadn't smelt yet.

Cooking chicken.

Atsushi took a deep inhale that instantly made his stomach roll with a growl, causing him to salivate and roll his eyes into the back of his head. It was a whole different kind of smell, one he had never experienced before, not even in his own house when his mother would cook. There was spices and it smelt juicy and warm and it drew him all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen where his uncle was cooking at the stove.

"What is that?" Atsushi asked, taking in another, far stronger inhale that made him lick his lips with want.

"Katsu... That alright?" Hiroshi asked with a quick glance over his shoulder.

Atsushi just nodded, not really caring if the man saw it, or not as he took in the small kitchen. It was just as quaint as everything else, with a small round dining table in the middle of it and the fridge all the way to the right. There was a double sink and some counter space, a stove top and an oven with some cabinets. It was a standard kitchen and across from where he stood was a door to a massive deck in the back of the house.

"Hey... Purple people eater... That alright?" His uncle asked again, this time having turned around to stare at him.

"Huh?... Oh, uh... Yeah. It smells really good." Atsushi said, rubbing his neck as he sat down at the dining table where his knees nearly pressed into the underside of it.

"Thanks... Everything alright with your room?" Hiroshi asked plainly as he returned to cooking.

"I guess... The blanket feels weird." Atsushi said as he crossed his arms on the table.

Hiroshi's brows furrowed, "How so?"

"It's just weird... The stitching kinda sticks out and there's stuffing poking out from between the top and the bottom layers." Atsushi said as he just watched.

"Ah... That's because it's handmade."

Atsushi sat up straighter, "Handmade?... Someone made it?"

Hiroshi lowly laughed, "Of course someone made it... Someone makes everything. That blanket was a gift from a neighbor girl down the road a little ways. Her folks run a small dairy farm down that way." He explained as he went to the fridge and pullout ed a large jug filled to the brim with a thick white liquid.

"Is that milk?" Atsushi asked as Hiroshi pulled a glass from a cupboard and filled it up.

"The good stuff. Here... Try it." Hiroshi said as he set the glass down in front of Atsushi.

Atsushi just stared at it as his uncle put the jug back in the fridge and went back to cooking dinner, the soft sizzling filling his ears and the scent making his mouth water. His stomach growled again, loud enough for his uncle to hear it and when the man turned back around, he saw that he was smirking.

"Go on... Have some. It won't kill you." Hiroshi huffed a wider, lopsided grin.

"It's so thick... Look... It's sticking to the glass." Atsushi pointed, leaning in close to study it like some science project.

"It's real milk... Hurry it up and take a drink before it warms up." Hiroshi rolled his eyes.

Atsushi crinkled his nose, "Ew... Warm milk is gross."

Blowing out a sigh, Atsushi picked up the glass and brought it to his lips, immediately smelling a creamy scent as he took a gulp into his mouth. It was ice cold, cooling his entire mouth and creamy almost to the point of being buttery. He swallowed it down where it clung to his throat and when it hit his stomach, he felt oddly satisfied.

"It's really creamy." Atsushi said as he took another drag.

"That's because it's _whole_ milk. It came out of the cow this morning."

Atsushi nearly choke on his mouthful, clapping his hand over his lips to keep him from spraying it all over the kitchen. He held the milk in his mouth until his abs stopped trying before finally swallowing the milk down and with his mouth in the clear to produce words, he spoke.

"Are you lying?" Atsushi asked with a glare as he studied the milk some more and watched the white cling streak down the glass.

"No, lying is your Dad's milk, which is water lying about being milk." Hiroshi crookedly smirked.

Atsushi started to laugh, "I hate his milk."

"It's skim milk! Of course you hate it! That's the real stuff. It's where cheese and butter and even ice cream comes from."

Atsushi's eyes snapped open wide, "Ice cream?"

Hiroshi continued to smirk, "Oh yeah... Ain't nothing better than fresh, homemade ice cream."

"I wanna try some." Atsushi said, his lavender eyes wide with hope and want.

"We'll see. It takes a day, or so." Hiroshi said.

Atsushi nodded as Hiroshi returned to cooking and he finished off his glass of milk. His stomach wasn't growling anymore, even feeling heavy and satisfied as if he had just finished eating a meal. It was nice and as Hiroshi began to place their meals onto the table, Atsushi set two place settings before refilling his glass with more milk and sitting down.

There was rice, chicken, vegetables and a few sauces, all of which had been made, or harvested earlier in the day. His uncle had gotten the milk from that very neighbor girl in exchange for a few baskets of the corn growing in his fields. The vegetables had been pulled from the ground and plucked from the vines during the day while his uncle worked his small farm and the only thing bought that was on the table was the rice, which he had gotten from the farmer's market from the closest town; 25 miles away.

Dinner had been delicious, so utterly mouth watering that he had eaten three full helpings and guzzled almost the whole jug of milk. His uncle was stunned by how much he had packed away and for the first time in all his years of living on his little farm, there wasn't a lick of leftovers to put in the fridge.

"Wow, Kid... Where do you put it all?" Hiroshi stared, blinking at the sheer volume of food that had gotten crammed down Atsushi's throat.

Atsushi just shrugged without missing a beat as he finished cleaning off the last few morsels from his plate, sucking down his fifth glass of milk before swiping his sleeve over his mouth.

Hiroshi blew out a stiff breath as he scrubbed his hair, "Walking food vacuum." He groaned out.

"Huh?" Atsushi hummed as he scratched the side of his neck.

"Nothing. Get to dishes."

As Hiroshi stood from the table and hung his apron, Atsushi somewhat frowned, but not wanting his head smashed against a dashboard again, he gathered up the dishes, rolled up his sleeves and turned on the water.

With being so tall, he was forced to hunch over while he scrubbed, cleaning everything until all the dishes were in the dish drainer before wiping down the table. He hadn't realized that his uncle wasn't even in the room anymore, but as he rinsed off the rag and hung it over the faucet to dry, he stood up straight and groaned from the ache that had set in between his shoulders.

"You should probably get to bed. You're getting up early tomorrow."

At the sudden voice, Atsushi jolted, seeing his uncle leaning against the entryway with his arms crossed. His face was entirely blank, but just by the tone in his voice, he knew he wasn't kidding.

"B-But tomorrow's Saturday." Atsushi said as he dropped his arms to his side from his stretch.

"Doesn't matter. Livestock can't tell the difference. To them, it's just another morning. Get some sleep." His uncle said before pushing off and disappearing into the living room.

Atsushi frowned, but decided not to argue, as the prospect of sleeping outside didn't exactly settle with him. He could hear the crickets through the walls and they were so loud it was almost like they were chirping right in his ears. The thought sent a shiver down his spine as he headed upstairs and into his room, gathering up his sleeping shorts and a t-shirt before heading into the bathroom just down the hall. It was simple, nothing more than the essentials and shutting the door, he sighed as he started to undress.

A bath was absolutely out of the question, as the tub was no where near big enough to contain someone made of mostly arms and legs. He actually wanted a bath just to sit and not think about anything, to forget where he was and why he was there, but sitting on the stool while the hot water rained down over him was going to have to do.

Bathed, dressed and with teeth brushed, Atsushi padded back to his room and shut the door, tossing his towel, dirty clothes and shower kit onto the floor without a care. He genuinely didn't care anymore, didn't want to care and couldn't be forced to as he flopped down onto the bed that was too small. His legs from his shins down to his feet hung off the end and his arms nearly hung to the floor it was so small, but the pillow was plushy and cuddly and that, was the only thing going for him.

He curled his arms around the pillow to hold it close as he stared out the small window above his bed that afforded him a small little patch of night sky. It was black and speckled with so many stars that he hadn't known that many were up there. They were bright ones and dim ones, large ones and small ones, and not a single one was overshadowed by the brightness of the half moon. It was a beautiful sky, but one that he watched through watery eyes.

Despite the beauty, despite the incredible food he had gotten to enjoy just that evening, Atsushi cried and buried his face into his pillow and hoped, wished that it would all just go away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

He had cried himself to sleep, had just let the tears soak his pillow without a single care given as he stared out the window. He didn't know what else to do, was too upset, too hurt that his own parents would so easily ship him off like an unwanted dog. It made his chest ache, but almost as if he was being put out of his misery, he had finally slipped into slumber.

However, as he lay there on his stomach with the handmade blanket haphazardly strewn over him where his legs still stuck out and not enough to even cover his arms, someone was daring to poke the bear.

"Hey!... Get up! It's morning!" Snapped a grumpy sounding voice as whomever it belonged to slapped the back of his head.

Atsushi just groaned, but refused to open his eyes.

"Hey!... Lazy man child! Get your ass up!" Said the voice, this time with a firm kick to his back.

"Stop it... It's still dark." Atsushi whined, blindly and lazily flailing his arm to make the bug go away.

"The animals don't give a shit! Now up!"

He refused to move, was content to miraculously grow roots and anchor himself to the ground for the rest of time, but when someone, some inhumane monster straight out of nightmares and hell grabbed the shell of his ear, he was suddenly being yanked up and out of bed.

"Ow!... Stop it, Uncle Hiroshi! It's only 3 in the morning!" Atsushi yelped, grimacing from the pain as his uncle literally pulled him out of bed and dropped him, half of him, onto the floor.

"Get your ass up, goddammit! The animals are hungry! Get dressed and meet me in the barn!"

Before he uttered another protest, Hiroshi marched from the bedroom, leaving Atsushi laying in a heap on the floor and half hanging off his bed. He cringed as he rubbed his ear, frowning at how hot it felt from the strength the smaller man had used, but not wanting to incur more wrath, or more possible bruises that he would have to explain, he pushed himself up and begrudgingly put pants on.

Tying his hair back before lacing on his shoes, tennis shoes, he thumped his way downstairs and stepped out the front door as he pulled on his hoodie for a little bit of warmth to battle against the morning chill. Stars still twinkled overhead and the crickets still chirped and it was such an inhuman, unacceptable hour that really, there should only be one of them on a clock.

"Oi! Over here!"

He turned to look in the direction of the voice, seeing his uncle standing beneath the bright floodlight that shone down from the top of the barn. He wore work pants and heavy boots with an open jacket, and a ball cap on his head to keep the annoying little gnats from attempting to enter his body through his eyeballs. Atsushi _hated_ bugs, especially ones that were so small be could barely see them, and as he walked, he couldn't take a single stride without flinching and waving his hand in front of his face to mass murder them all.

"Here... It'll help." His uncle said as he handed him the very ball cap from his head.

"What about you?" Atsushi asked, flinching again from a gnat whom had thought it a good plan to try and buzz up his nose.

"I'm used to it. Plus... I'd rather you wear it than listen to you whine." Hiroshi scoffed a crooked smirk.

Atsushi glared, but ultimately, took the hat and threaded his ponytail through the hole in the back before settling it down on his head. Somehow, the bill was like some mysterious force field and suddenly, the gnats were too stupid to get passed it. It actually was a help.

"Wow... Tennis shoes... How precious." Hiroshi deadpanned, having looked down and was glaring at them as if they had insulted his mother.

"It's all I have." Atsushi said with a shrug.

Hiroshi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Don't get mad at me then."

"Why?" Atsushi asked, his brows furrowed once more.

However, Hiroshi just pursed his lips together before waving for Atsushi to follow, going to the wide, sliding barn doors and pushing them open one side at a time. They opened into a huge maw where Hiroshi flicked an invisible switch on the wall, sparking a string of free hanging light bulbs to a dull yellow glow where Atsushi's jaw hit the ground at what he was suddenly looking at.

The barn was big, huge even, with a U shaped mezzanine that was used as storage for large haybales, grain sacks and tools. Straw was strewn all over the place to provide cushioning for animals coming and going, but what struck him the most, was that god awful smell of livestock.

"Yuck... It smells." Atsushi frowned hard as he cupped a hand over his nose.

"Yup... You'd smell too if you pissed and shit where you slept. Put these on and grab that wheelbarrow over there." Hiroshi said, reaching into a pocket to pull out a pair of leather work gloves for Atsushi.

All the tall teen could do was stare at them, glaring at them as if they were a vegetable. He suddenly knew what his uncle was wanting and as he dropped his chin to his chest, sighing with a groan, he took them and put them on.

"Go on... The stalls aren't gonna clean themselves." Hiroshi said, trying not to smirk as Atsushi went for the twin wheeled wheelbarrow that sat propped up straight against a support beam.

"I hate you so much right now." Atsushi sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before grabbing a lift handle.

He righted the wheelbarrow and turned to wheel it back to where his uncle should have been, but when he saw that he wasn't there, he froze and looked around.

"Uncle Hiroshi?" Atsushi called out loud, but not really in a loud voice.

"I'm right here. Don't panic," he grumbled from behind him, "Here... Start forking the soiled bedding into there as I turn the animals out to pasture for the day." Hiroshi said as he dropped a heavy pitch fork down into the bin.

"You're serious about this aren't you." Atsushi sighed.

Hiroshi nodded, "Every freaking word, Kid."

With just a heavy pat to his nephew's shoulder, Hiroshi stepped passed him to begin turning the animals out where Atsushi just stood there with slumped shoulders and a light grimace on his face. He watched his uncle open the back of each paddock, ushering the animals out that were a bit lazy and lethargic and that made him curious. He had been expecting the animals to be just as wide eyed and bushy tailed as his uncle, but they looked just as tired and just as unwilling to put up with the ungodly hour as he was.

"Hey!... Snap to it, Kiddo!" Hiroshi said, slapping the boney rump of a cow to coax her outside.

Atsushi just blew out a breath before hoisting the wheelbarrow up and heading for the first empty paddock, unlatching and swinging the large gate open to see a huge mess of crushed straw, piles of old manure and even darkened puddles in a corner that made him shutter. It really did need to get cleaned, but the straw, as a whole, didn't look old.

"How often do you clean them?" Atsushi asked as he picked up the pitch fork.

"Every couple of a days, or so. Depends on how bad they get really. Since it's usually just me, I try to alternate so I can get other stuff done." Hiroshi said from across the barn as he opened the paddock that housed a pair of horses.

"How come no one helps you?" Atsushi asked, shoveling his first stake of soiled straw into the wheelbarrow that he had to scrape off with the edge of the bin.

"Help is expensive. As it stands, I'm just able to make ends meet. I can only afford a stable hand three times a week." Hiroshi said, coiling up a thick rope lead to hang it on a peg along the wall.

"Oh... But it doesn't look like you're struggling. Everything's neat." Atsushi said, hulking another load into the wheelbarrow as he worked his way inwards.

"I work hard, Kid. You see all those crops growing out there?" Hiroshi asked with a quick point to his fields.

Atsushi didn't stop working and just nodded.

"They aren't mine."

That got him to stop his pitchforking as he stood up and stared at his uncle, "But they're on your land."

"I know. They belong to a farm nearer to town that went corporate about... three? Four years ago now? They mass harvest feed and sweet corn and process the soy beans into a whole metric ton of different things. They have the equipment to harvest where I don't. Those combines are astronomically expensive." Hiroshi explained, not even looking at his nephew as he climbed a ladder up into the mezzanine.

"The what?" Atsushi arced a brow for a moment before returning to forking the straw.

"A combine harvester; Those huge machines that harvest massive swaths of crop at a time. They can mow down my fields and truck all of it out in just under a couple of hours. They typically cost anywhere from $100,000 for an old battered one, to $500,000 for a brand new one. That corporate farm rents my land for a nice little chunk of change and it's the only thing keeping my head above water." Hiroshi explained from up top.

As Atsushi scraped off the straw into the nearly full wheelbarrow, he looked up to watch his uncle begin tossing bales of hay down onto the barn floor where they landed hard and rolled despite being square.

"Mom never said anything about you having money trouble." He said before resuming his work.

"Not surprised. She wouldn't even breathe my name in front of that troglodyte she's married to. And I'm not having money trouble, I just don't have much to spare at the end of the day." Hiroshi said with another tossed bale.

Atsushi nodded and hoisted up another pitchfork full of straw, but as he turned to scrape it off, he frowned that the wheelbarrow was already full.

"Uncle Hiroshi? The wheelbarrow's full." Atsushi grumbled, setting the load of straw down and leaning the pitchfork up against the paddock wall.

"Huh?... Oh. Alright, one sec. I'm coming down." Hiroshi said, dusting his gloves off before climbing back down the ladder.

Hiroshi just waved for Atsushi to follow him as he marched out of the barn doors and out into the cool night where Atsushi picked up the wheelbarrow by the grip handles and wheeled it after him. The floodlight was able to light quite a bit before giving way to darkness and far off in the distance, at the edge of night, Atsushi could see the slightest lightening of blue.

He followed his uncle to the old tractor with its huge back wheels and long, square nose. He thought it resembled a tiny locomotive, but when his uncle walked right passed it towards a shed with no roof that he hadn't seen before because of the tall corn stalks, all he could do was arc a brow.

"Dump it in here." Hiroshi said as he opened the wide swinging doors.

The second they opened, Atsushi's eyes and nose burned from the stench, as it was full of old soiled straw that was molding and hot. He could even see steam wafting up from the browning pile. All he wanted was for the smell to go away and tucking his nose into his hoodie wasn't helping.

"That's gross." Atsushi mumbled as he frowned.

"Fork it all in there... Atsushi, where's the pitchfork?" Hiroshi asked, his dark purple eyes staring up at him as he crossed his arms.

"Um... Back there." Atsushi said with a point over his shoulder with his thumb.

Hiroshi sighed, "Go get it. You have to fork all of the compost in, or it just piles up against the door."

Atsushi tried not to audibly groan, he honestly did, but it came out anyways as he made the trek back to the barn to get the pitchfork. He found himself not minding it however, as it did give him a chance to breathe normal air before being assaulted again and when he returned to the compost pile, this time with the pitchfork, he buried his nose back into his hoodie and started emptying the wheelbarrow.

Load after load, Atsushi cleaned out the stalls while his uncle came in behind him and hosed out the floors, scrubbing what remained into a long grated drain in the floor of the barn. Atsushi moved wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow, falling into a pattern of filling it, taking it to the compost pile and emptying it before starting over. It felt like hours and he had plugged away at it so hard that he had started to sweat. He suddenly felt like he was back at basketball practice where he would actually work and as he finally got the last wheelbarrow emptied, he realized that it was dawn.

"Not bad, Kid. Now start hulking those bales into the cleaned stalls and spread the straw." Hiroshi said, clapping a hand down onto Atsushi's back, where he had shed his hoodie from getting hot.

Mildly breathing heavier, Atsushi swiped the back of his hand across his forehead to rid it of sweat before setting the wheelbarrow and pitchfork aside and grabbing the bale string of the first bale. It was a heavy, cumbersome load, but with his conditioned body and physical strength, he lifted it up and onto a broad shoulder, much to his uncle's surprise.

"Holy shit, Kid... Where'd that strength come from?" Hiroshi asked, standing stunned as Atsushi heaved the bale into the first stall and dropped it down.

"Playing basketball." Atsushi said dully, taking the offered knife from his uncle to cut the strings.

"Seriously? That's a 100 pound bale, Kid. Basketball bulked you up that much?" Hiroshi asked in disbelief.

"Sort of." Atsushi shrugged as he stood up straight.

Hiroshi arced a brow, "Sort of? What the hell does that mean? You just hulked that thing up like you were lifting groceries." He crossed his arms.

"I um... I've been working out since I was 8." Atsushi mumbled as he tucked a loosened lock of his purple hair behind his ear.

"So you can work." Hiroshi said with a crooked grin as Atsushi started spreading the straw with the hosed off pitchfork.

"I didn't really have a choice then either. It was either that, or keep tripping over my own feet." Atsushi said with a soft growl laced beneath his words that his uncle caught.

"You sound like you harbor some disdain for it." Hiroshi said, leaning a shoulder against the open paddock to watch.

"Dad thought I was stupid when I was little because I kept bumping into stuff, or fell over nothing, or actually fell _up_ the stairs. He was convinced until Mom had me tested." Atsushi said, his brows furrowed as he went back to the pile of stacked bales to get another.

"And?"

Atsushi glared, "Not stupid... Just a gangly kid who couldn't make sense of things because I was 8 and already taller than Mom." He tossed the new bale from his shoulder into the paddock.

"Gotcha... So you started working out to get the support you needed." Hiroshi filled in as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Atsushi nodded as he cut the bale strings, "Yeah... Then Dad sent me to Teikō and signed me up for basketball."

"As he tends to do." Hiroshi grumbled.

Atsushi just huffed as he spread out the straw, taking time to make the new bedding even and it took two more bales for a total of four to make it thick enough to meet his uncle's expectations. His uncle took over the spreading of the straw while Atsushi brought the bales over, even having to climb up the ladder to the mezzanine to toss more down. Every bale he lifted, his arms thickened with muscle from his biceps to his pectorals and it filled out his t-shirt so much that he actually started to feel constrained. He took in deeper breaths to fill his lungs as he lifted the bottom of his shirt to dry his face from sweat and with one, last bale, he lifted it to his shoulder, brought it to his uncle and dropped it down.

"That should do it, Kiddo." Hiroshi crookedly smiled as he dabbed his forehead dry and pulled off his gloves while he admired their work.

"Are we done for the day?" Atsushi asked, swallowing down his breath right before he yawned big.

"Ha! Not even close, Kid. Now we feed the animals, then we eat." Hiroshi said with a firm pat to Atsushi's arm as he walked by.

Atsushi dropped his head back to stare up at the roof, "But they're literally eating right now." He whined before whipping around to follow.

"Hey!... No whining! You take care of the animals, they take care of you in return. Now stay there while I get the truck!" Hiroshi called as he headed for the old, beat up truck.

Atsushi just sighed as he planted his hands on his hips and stopped by the door of the barn, letting the last of his panting breath settle back down to a normal breathing habit. He was coated in sweat, his hair clinging to the back of his neck and he felt gritty from the barn dust that was sticking to his skin from his work. He felt gross, but with the top of the sun just now peaking over the horizon, he was afforded with a moment of a countryside dawn.

Pulling his ball cap off to dry his forehead, the sky immediately got bigger, turning from the black it had been all morning to a kaleidoscope of golds and blues and whites that all mixed together like paint. What few clouds their were, were pink and orange and the sun's rays streaked like bands of golden ribbon through the trees that lined the two lane road. The air was so crisp, so clean that he couldn't describe in words that it was like to fill his lungs with it. Morning mist hovered above the grass, sparkling like each blade was made of gems from the dew and coming from every direction, every angle, the birds sang. It was not the sound of the city.

"Wow-" Atsushi breathed out, his eyes glimmering as he drank in the sight.

He was so captivated by the sunrise that it wasn't until the old cranky truck grizzled to life that he returned to the task at hand, tearing his eyes away from the planet's painting as his uncle drove the truck around and angled it so the long bed was aimed at the barn. He stepped aside as his uncle backed up, not stopping until the truck was directly underneath an overhead hook that was suspended from the rafters with chain.

"Alright, Kiddo! Climb back up there and start hooking a few sacks of grain on that hook, then lower it down nice and easy." Hiroshi said as he shut off the truck and opened the door.

Atsushi rasped his lips before putting his ball cap back on and offering one last glance up at the sky before heading back inside. He easily climbed up the ladder in just a couple bounds since his legs were so long and once up in the mezzanine, he scanned the scattered bales and tools, but saw no grain sacks.

"Uncle Hiroshi? Where are they?" Atsushi called down to the ground level over his shoulder.

"To the right!" His uncle called up.

Atsushi whipped his head to the right, seeing a portion of a sack sticking out from behind the bales of hay. He headed for it, ducking under horizontal rafters and making sure he didn't fall off because it was a long way down, but when he got there, he peered behind the straw wall and saw a small hill's worth of brown burlap sacks.

Drawing in a deep breath, he leaned down and grabbed one, dragging it out from the tight space before gripping it hard and lifting it. Grain, somehow, weighed more than hay did and to add a second layer of difficulty, the sack was flimsy. It didn't matter that it was physically smaller than the haybales, it was far more dense and required him to use far more strength.

With the heavier weight, Atsushi exhaled as he lifted the sack and hoisted it up to his shoulder, curling his arm around to hold onto it as he started back to the open spot in the mezzanine. He reached out with his available hand and grabbed the chain with the hook to pull it down with the links clanking through the simple pulley, but when he dropped the grain sack down at his feet, there was no where to hook it onto.

"Eh?... No loop?" Atsushi tilted his head as his brows furrowed.

"Hold the bag up straight and jam the hook right through it!" His uncle called up to him.

Atsushi nodded as he sat the bag up straight where the grain gathered at the bottom to leave a sizable lip of just empty sack. He gripped the hook and rammed it through, and since it was cast of a far more sturdy material than burlap, it pierced right through with a tear.

With the grain sack secured on the hook, he grabbed the other chain and pulled down, lifting the sack up without a single struggle as he swung out to hang over the bed of the truck. He lowered it down into his uncle's reach where he unhooked it and the hook raised back up.

"How many more?" Atsushi asked as he reached out and grabbed the hook.

"We'll need a total of six, so five more." Hiroshi called up.

Atsushi just nodded as he went back to the pile, but instead of grabbing one at a time, he grabbed fistfuls of burlap and dragged all five, but when one of the sacks caught on a troublesome nail that stuck up just enough from the boards, the burlap of one sack tore and grain poured out like sand from an hourglass.

"Uh oh-"

"See what happens when you get lazy! Those grain sacks aren't cheap you know!" He heard his uncle say, but what was odd, was that his words were laced with a laugh.

Gulping, Atsushi peaked out from beneath his cap to see his uncle slowly shaking his head with his hands on his hips, crookedly smirking up at him, but his eyes told him everything. They weren't angry like he was expecting, but rather annoyed instead. He had a city kid working in a barn in the middle of nowhere, so accidents were bound to happen, but that didn't mean Atsushi didn't feel bad for costing his uncle unnecessary money.

"S-Sorry, Uncle Hiroshi." Atsushi said, his shoulders dropping as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Least the chickens are fed. Could have been worse I guess." Hiroshi said, looking off under where Atsushi stood in the mezzanine.

Furrowing his brows, Atsushi dropped down onto his hands and knees and leaned over the side of the mezzanine, hanging upside down to look at what had drawn his uncle's gaze. The ball cap slipped free of his head, but hung there on his ponytail as his lips twitched up into a smile.

Far below, half a dozen chickens, all ranging in color from white, to tan, to brown, were happily pecking the ground as they ate the grain, softly clucking and hopping around without a care in the world. A gaggle of smaller yellow chicks bounced around with them, and they were so small, so fluffy that those sweets shaped like them and made of marshmallow fluff weren't all that far off the mark.

"Hey... They look like Peeps!" Atsushi smiled, dropping his arm to point at a cluster of little ones.

Hiroshi huffed a full smile, "Yeah... Fluffy little guys hatched last week. Come on down." He waved.

In his hurry, instead of using the ladder, Atsushi just gripped the edge of the wooden platform and swung himself around, lowering himself as if coming down from a pull up with thick arms. The height didn't matter, because for a kid whom was 6'10, reaching the ground was only a short, barely visible drop.

"Jesus, you're tall." Hiroshi scoffed as he jumped down from the truck's tailgate.

Atsushi rubbed the back of his neck to hide the ultra light blush as he walked up to where his uncle had knelt down to scoop up a small handful of grain without the chickens even looking at him.

"Take off your gloves and hold your hands together like you're cupping water." Hiroshi said as he lightly juggled the portion of grain in his hand.

His brows lightly furrowed, Atsushi pulled his gloves off and dried his hands on his pants before cupping them together with his palms up. He wasn't sure what was going on, let alone what was going through his uncle's mind, but when he poured the grain into his palms, he smiled up at him as if he was knowingly about to see something amazing.

"Go ahead. Kneel down. They won't come up to you if you look like a giant beanstalk." Hiroshi smirked as he crossed his arms.

Atsushi dully glared, "You're only saying that 'cuz my shirt's green."

While Hiroshi lowly laughed, Atsushi knelt down and hunched over low, somehow making himself smaller as he held out his hands close to the ground until his fingers actually rested on it. He stayed still, just watching the chickens and chicks peck around and pick up grain after grain. They looked happy, carefree even, until one, a small yellow chick with a short orange beak, looked at him with a titled head.

Atsushi's mouth twitched into a gentle smile as the small chick hopped closer, only taking one, or two at a time as the little guy tested the waters. When the massive thing didn't move, the little fluff ball hopped closer until he hopped right up into his palms to enjoy the grain he held. He could barely feel each little peck as the chick chirped and ate, and he really wanted to get a closer look, but was too afraid that if he moved, the little thing would be scared off. Small things were his bane, he knew it, they knew it, but this little chick, having the little beasty just hanging out in his palms, his smile grew all the way up to his eyes.

"He's so small." Atsushi said quietly, just watching as a few more chicks hopped over to see what their buddy was up to.

"Cute little dudes aren't they." Hiroshi said as he leaned up against the side of the truck to watch.

Atsushi nodded, but continued to smile and watch as the chicks pecked up every last tiny grain before hopping away, content to rejoin their kin as they cleaned up the mess he had made. He couldn't wipe away the smile no matter how hard he tried, let alone wanted to, but that's just it; He didn't want to.

Dusting off his hands on his pants, he stood up tall, still smiling down at the small creatures whom were happy and oblivious.

"They're cute. I wanna do it again." Atsushi said, finally tearing his eyes away from the animals to look at his uncle.

"Maybe some other time, Kiddo. Lets get the morning chores done, then we can eat."

At the mere mention of food, Atsushi's eyes widened and if last night's supper was any indication, it would be just as good. He whizzed up the ladder and hooked one bag at a time, not wanting to make another mistake even though the outcome would most likely be more chickens cleaning up after him. He lowered them all down for his uncle to unhook, but when the last bag was left, he worked a bit slower.

He carefully rolled the bag over onto its undamaged side to see the tear, which was a rather small hole, but had managed to spill a good portion of the grain that fell over the side. A bit more spilled, but with a bit of adjusting, and some cleaver hanging, he managed to hook it onto the hook without spilling more and lowered it down to his awaiting uncle.

The grain retrieved, Hiroshi got back into the truck where Atsushi climbed into the bed, not wanting to squeeze himself into the cab where he couldn't smell the crisp morning air. He drove out of the barn and around back to a closed wooden gate, where Atsushi opened it to gain access into the pasture. His uncle drove through and continued over the grass while he shut the gate and secured it, and with his previous mistake fresh in his mind, he made sure it was firmly latched before following the truck's path.

They spread the grain by the bagful into a long trough and several buckets in several different areas. The horses and cows quickly came up for their meal while Atsushi poured the third bag into the trough while his uncle tended to the goats whom were butting him in the knees because they thought he wasn't pouring fast enough. He snickered to himself as the third bag emptied, but when it came time to feed the pigs, Atsushi's appetite was nearly stolen from him.

He helped his uncle mix up a soupy mess of leftovers from god knows how long ago and it stunk to high hell, but the water from the hose he was pouring into the trough helped to keep the smell down. His uncle stirred it up into what looked like puke, but the pigs didn't care, because they were oinking and squealing and climbing over each other just to get at it. It made Atsushi gag a little until they were done and finally finishing with feeding the animals, the sun fully entered the sky and beamed its light on him.

"It is lunchtime yet?" Atsushi whined with a heavy sigh, completely tired and covered in sweat as he pulled the ball cap off his head.

"Lunchtime?" he rasped his lips together, "It's only 7am, Kiddo! It's breakfast!" Hiroshi started to laugh as he headed back towards the house.

"7! That exists?" Atsushi squeaked, staring in shock a moment before rushing after his uncle.

Hiroshi just shook his head as he pulled off his boots and set them side before heading for the kitchen with the intent of making food. Atsushi followed him, but the more he walked, the more gross he felt. The sweat had cooled his skin and made him shiver, and the grit from the dust made his skin look darker. The tiny wisps of hair that seemed to stay stagnant in their length no matter how long went between hair cuts, stuck to the back of his neck and tickled like someone was blowing on it. His hands were sore, almost audibly groaning every time he curled his fingers and dirt, from somewhere he had no idea, had gotten jammed underneath his fingernails. He was in no shape to eat, let alone touch bare skin in his current state and he was suddenly filled with the desperate need to take a shower.

"I'm gonna go bathe. I feel gross." Atsushi grumbled, reaching up to take the ball cap off and pull his hair free of the tie.

"Yeah... Just make it quick and don't use up all the hot water!"

Atsushi didn't stick around for much longer than that as he bounded upstairs and into his room. His clothes literally peeled off of him like he was peeling a banana and there was no avoiding the awful aroma of sweaty boy and barn with a sprinkling of ozone. It was the kind of odor that clung to the back of his throat and as he chose some clean clothes and picked up his bathroom bag, he vanished into the bathroom like he was trying to make it to the toilet in time.

Not wanting to risk getting dragged out of the shower by his ear, he made it quick, just washing himself down and throwing some shampoo in instead of taking the time to relax. His stomach was growling for food and frankly, that took precedence, so after only five minutes, he was done, dried, dressed and heading downstairs.

However, before he could step into the kitchen to see if his uncle had started cooking yet, the doorbell rang, instantly making him stop as if someone had pushed the pause button. He peaked into the kitchen to tell his uncle, but when he found it empty, he had no choice, but to answer the door himself.

The doorbell rang again as he rubbed the back of his neck, pursing his lips together nervously, but with the third ring, he sighed and started to pad his way over to the door.

"Um... Can I-" Atsushi started as he opened the door, but the moment he did, he froze and stared.

Standing on the porch, dressed in blue overalls with a cute purple tank top and a zip up over that, was a tall drink of water that even he had to admit was tall. She stood every bit of 6' feet, with soft pale skin and long, flowing jet black hair that reached the middle of her back. Her bangs swept over her left eye, shielding it from view and just below her right, was a small beauty mark.

"Oh!... Um... Is Hiroshi here?" She asked, her voice soft, almost nervous as she looked up at him and her hands tightened around the handle of a woven basket.

Atsushi blinked, "Um... Yeah." Was all he could manage to say.

"I'm um... I'm here to help for the day." She said, shying into her shoulders a bit as she bit her bottom lip.

Atsushi stood up straighter, but it put his eyes higher than the door frame and therefore, made him tilt his head over just to be able to see.

"Are you the stable hand he mentioned?" Atsushi asked in his typical monotone as he pointed at her.

"Um... Yes... If he mentioned me, that is." She said, her soft cheeks tinting themselves pink as she avoid eye contact.

"Oh... Uh... He's here somewhere. I think he's getting cleaned up though." Atsushi said as he gripped the back of his neck.

The girl cringed, "He didn't mention hiring more help. I hope it wasn't because of me." She shied into her shoulders some more.

"Huh?... Hire more help?... Oh! No! He didn't hire me. I'm his nephew." Atsushi said with a bit of a squeak as his eyes opened wider from his realization.

"Nephew?... He never mentioned he had a nephew." The girl said, her dark gray eyes opening as she actually made eye contact with the insanely tall boy blocking the whole door.

"He has four actually... oh, and a niece." Atsushi said.

"Oh... I didn't know that." The girl said quietly.

They stood in awkward silence, not looking at each other, or even making a move. They just stood there in each others way, bathed in the morning light of the new day's sun and the awkwardness was getting heavy, even for Atsushi.

"Um... W-What's your name?" The girl suddenly asked, still avoiding looking at him.

Even his cheeks started to feel warmed from a blush.

"A-Atsushi... um... Murasakibara." He near mumbled too lowly for her to hear.

"Hi... I'm um... My name's... T-Tatsuya... Tatsuya Himuro."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Atsushi blinked, just blinked as he stared down at the girl in complete and utter confusion. She was clearly a girl, he knew it full well and the rounded hump of her chest through her hoodie was not lost on him, but when she spoke her name, his mind was having an issue accepting it.

"T-Tatsuya?... But that's a boy's name." Atsushi said quietly, rubbing the back of his head and combing his damp hair down so it didn't frizz all over the place.

Her blush deepened, but her brows furrowed, "G-Girls can have boy's names too you know." She grumbled, looking away from him as her mouth got small with irritation.

Atsushi cringed, "Uh... I mean, I guess so... Um-" His voice trailed off as he looked away again to hide his cringe.

"Y-Yeah... T-That's why I usually go by Tatsuki." She said, being the first to look at the other in some time.

"Tatsuki?... That's better-" Atsushi started, only to be quite literally saved by his uncle.

"Oi! You're early today, Tatty! Don't mind the giant ogre and get in here! We're gonna be starting breakfast!" Hiroshi called from down the first floor hall, stepping out of a second bathroom while rubbing his hair dry with a towel.

Tatsuki smiled, "Good morning!" She sang, stepping over the threshold once Atsushi turned to the side to let her in.

Atsushi glared at his uncle, "I'm not an ogre." He grumbled under his breath like a scolded child trying to get the last word.

"Sorry to tell ya, but the morning chores are all done, Tatty. Atsushi and I were able to knock them out before sunrise." Hiroshi said, tossing his towel into the small utility room off the kitchen before grabbing the apron from the hook.

"Really?... Oh... You don't need the help today then?" Tatsuki asked, her eyes a bit sad as she set down her woven basket onto the kitchen table.

"I still do. Atsushi has no freaking clue what all needs to get done around here." Hiroshi said bluntly, not even acknowledging the steep glare he was getting from that very boy whom had just stepped into the kitchen.

Atsushi's brows furrowed harder, but instead of saying anything, he just flipped a chair around backwards and flopped down on it with his arms crossed on the table and his chin resting on them.

"Did you just get here, or something?" Tatsuki asked, looking over at Atsushi as she opened the top of the basket.

Atsushi nodded, but when the top had opened, his nose was immediately hit with the sweetest, most mouthwatering scent of cream and cinnamon. He sucked in a huge breath as he lifted his head and his eyes rolled into the back of his, his mouth producing so much saliva that if he didn't swallow, it would come dribbling out of his mouth like a waterfall. He gulped when she pulled out a covered plate and when she pulled off the tin foil, all his eyes could do was go wide.

Fresh baked cinnamon rolls.

"I brought some treats we can have with breakfast. I baked them this morning." Tatsuki smiled as she set the plate down dangerously close to Atsushi.

"Sounds good... I wouldn't leave those there if I were you, though." Hiroshi warned, arcing a brow as Atsushi lifted a finger in an attempt to dip it into the gooey frosting sliding down the side of one.

Tatsuki glared at him as she snatched the plate away just in time, earning herself the heartbroken expression of a puppy who just got kicked for no reason. His eyes were huge with want and glimmered as he followed the plate and the more breaths he took that were filled with that sweet cinnamon and sugar, the more his stomach roared for it.

"B-But sweets-" Atsushi managed to say without spilling drool all over the table.

"Don't touch. They're for when breakfast is done." Tatsuki scolded as she set the plate down in safe territory on the counter.

Atsushi pouted as his uncle turned on the burner and set down a skillet before going to the fridge and pulling out a paper wrapped lump of something and a bowl full of eggs. Tatsuki continued to empty her basket, pulling out a few jugs of milk and, to Atsushi's utter and tempted delight, a bag of cookies that she set down next to the wafting cinnamon rolls. The basket had been full of sweets and if he could get his hands on them, he could die a happy man.

The delectable scent of cinnamon and sugar was soon joined by the sizzle of bacon and the popping of eggs, all mixing together to make his stomach nearly jump out of his body in its desperation to get to it; Any of it. He was dying to get at it, even the tiniest of morsels as the two made breakfast and he didn't even care that they had fallen into companionable conversation about how he had managed to tear open a grain bag. He wanted the food and in the worst way.

After what seemed like hours worth of torture, being banished to sit at the table so he didn't crowd up the kitchen, Hiroshi and Tatsuki finally finished cooking breakfast and started setting it on the table. It was a large western style breakfast with the addition of rice, surrounded by heaping plates of eggs, bacon, toast and sliced fruit. The creamy milk was poured into three glasses and just when Atsushi was on the verge of death, what he thought was death, a plate with a frosting covered cinnamon roll was set in front of his face.

"Now you can have one." Tatsuki smiled wide as she sat down.

Without even uttering a word, Atsushi lifted his head and dove in, scarfing down the cinnamon roll in three extremely huge bits. Frosting clung to his cheeks and lips, but that too was slicked away with a swipe of his tongue before he had even swallowed his bite. The frosting was so creamy and good, with a mild sweetness that didn't overpower the brown sugar and cinnamon. There was an undertone of cream cheese with it that lightened it even more and when he gulped down the last bite, being large enough that more frosting was smeared over his mouth, he finally realized that he was being stared at.

"Wha?" Atsushi said, his mouth completely full of the cinnamon roll.

"Um... I think he likes it." Tatsuki blinked, making a visible effort not to laugh at the sight of it.

"You think? He looks like he murdered a cream puff." Hiroshi said, not even trying to hold back his low snicker.

Atsushi swallowed down his mouthful and chased it with a pull of milk that drained half his glass.

"Speaking of, thanks for the extra milk. Atsushi's been guzzling it like water since he got here yesterday." Hiroshi said as he began to eat, chomping down on a strip of chewy bacon.

"Oh! You're welcome! We had a bit extra this month after the trucks came by to drain the tanks." Tatsuki said, she too beginning to eat while Atsushi snagged another cinnamon roll and several bacon strips for himself.

"The cows are healthy then. I'm glad to hear it." Hiroshi said without looking up from his plate.

Tatsuki nodded once, "Mmhmm... There'll be thirteen calves here soon. Do you want one?"

"Same bull?" Hiroshi asked.

"No... Different bulls." She said, shaking her head.

"How many by Blizter?" Hiroshi asked, this time with a brief glance at her.

"Um... Five I think." She said.

"I might come take a look later today if the walking garbage disposal over there and I can finish up early today." Hiroshi said, bending down to scoop the last of his eggs into his mouth.

Atsushi glared, "I'm not a garbage-"

"Okay!" Tatsuki beamed.

"I don't have much to offer though in the way of cash. I haven't been able to snag a booth at the farmer's market in the last couple of months." Hiroshi said as he served himself some more rice onto his plate.

Atsushi's glare vanished as he just listened in and ate, this time, much slower so not to draw attention to himself.

"Are they not paying?" Tatsuki asked with saddened eyes.

"They are. I just haven't had the time and the butcher is too expensive. Maybe having Atsushi here'll help loosen up the schedule a bit. I could use the extra cash." Hiroshi said with a grunt.

Atsushi chewed slowly.

"If you want, you can piggyback off my booth. I can only spend a couple hours here before I have to get home and get things ready for it." Tatsuki said with a light shrug.

"Raw meat and baked goods don't really go together." Hiroshi smirked.

Atsushi sat up, "Baked goods?"

Hiroshi and Tatsuki shared a glanced.

"Tatty runs a small confection booth at the farmer's market every Sunday to help bring in extra money to her family's farm. I usually run a fresh meat booth, but ever since my last stable hand took of, I've been strapped for time." Hiroshi briefly explained as he took a long pull of milk.

"Maybe Atsushi can take care of the chores while you butcher? With both of us here, it should give you time to prep some things." Tatsuki said before finishing her eggs to finally start on her cinnamon roll and save it from Atsushi's wrath.

"He's gotta learn it first. Just getting him out of bed this morning was a chore." Hiroshi scoffed as he glared at his nephew.

"You grabbed my ear!" Atsushi protested as he glared back.

"After kicking you! Your alarm even went off twenty minutes before that!" Hiroshi fired back.

"It did not! I didn't set the alarm!" Atsushi grumbled.

"I set it for you, because you were too lazy to bother! I turned it off!" Hiroshi snarled.

Atsushi's throat rattled as he glared, but with more food on the table, he wasn't in the mood to argue. He grabbed a third cinnamon roll, six more strips of bacon and the rest of the eggs for his third helping.

"Good lord, he eats like a pregnant sow." Tatsuki stared in disbelief.

"Yeah, no shit. Just feeding him is gonna be a chore. The extra funds are gonna come in handy. If you wanna take him around and show him the ropes, it'll free me up to get a pig downed and readied." Hiroshi said, standing up and taking his cleaned plate to the sink.

Tatsuki nodded, "Sure. Have you milked Gretchen yet?"

"No. She's all yours. Let me know if you think she'll drop soon." Hiroshi said before stepping out of the kitchen to put his boots back on.

"Okay!" Tatsuki said just before the front door slammed closed.

At the loud sound, Atsushi flinched, not really sure what the hell just happened before rushing to finish his breakfast. He cleaned his plate before standing to take the dishes to the sink, setting them in where Tatsuki was taking off her zip up to start cleaning. He snatched the last piece of bacon to let it hang out of his mouth as he cleaned the table and as she started washing, he emptied the dish drainer to make room.

Not a single one spoke as they cleaned up the kitchen, Tatsuki scrubbing the dishes clean for Atsushi to dry and put away. They had fallen into a system without even speaking to each other, but Atsushi couldn't help, but feel weighted by the awkwardness hanging heavy on his shoulders.

"Um... W-What's a sow?" Atsushi asked as he put the last plate away.

"A female pig." Tatsuki said simply and without even looking up from the dishes left in the sink.

Atsushi grumbled, "I guess I deserved that." He rubbed his neck.

"That's for saying my name is a boy's name." Tatsuki shot him a sidelong glance.

However, Atsushi refused to look.

"Sorry." He mumbled under his breath.

"Apology accepted." Tatsuki said, now lightly smiling up at him.

 _Ugh!... She's cute,_ "Um... So uh... H-How long have you been helping my uncle?" Atsushi asked, drying the last serving dish and putting it away in its place.

"Since last summer, but it picked up once his last stable hand just left one day." Tatsuki said with a shrug.

"Oh." Was all he managed as she shut off the water and dried her hands.

All she did was shrug again before putting the milk in the fridge and squeezing a strange looking, thick walled bowl into the freezer before heading for the front door, not even bothering to put her zip up back on. He followed her after hurriedly putting on his tennis shoes and made his way to the barn, not seeing his uncle anywhere, but the chickens had completely cleaned up the spilled grain. There was no sign that he had screwed up anywhere and in all honesty, he was glad as Tatsuki plucked a lead from a peg on the wall.

"I'll be right back. Get a short stool and a really clean bucket. There should be one up in the mezzanine." She said with a quick tap of her chin.

Before he could even ask, she was gone, heading out to the pasture and leaving him alone in the barn to fend for himself. He blew out a stiff breath as he rubbed the back of his neck and climbed up into the mezzanine, but he couldn't find a bucket anywhere that he would classify as clean.

He was about to give up when he moved a brown bag next to a stack of haybales, where he found an aluminum pail that was as clean as he had ever seen. It was a brushed shiny silver and had a handle to carry it with, which made climbing down easy since he could thread his arm through the arc and climb down the ladder. He found a stool in the corner of the barn, next to a paddock and just as he picked it up, the rhythmic and heavy stomps of something large approaching drew his attention to the barn door.

Tatsuki had returned from the pasture, leading the large black and white spotted cow that was all too happy to just chew on whatever and follow. It had a dull look on its face, but it was fat, happy and its large, pink utter nearly dragged on the ground from being so heavy with milk.

"Big." Atsushi said as Tatsuki tied the lead to a post.

"She's pregnant." Tatsuki said, sweetly smiling as she patted the cow and walked deeper into the barn and climbed up the ladder.

Atsushi just nodded as he awkwardly stood there, watching Tatsuki gather up some hay for the cow to snack on and keep her busy while she worked. She had used the brown bag he had tossed aside to carry it down the ladder, looping it over the post where it hung like a feeder for the cow to easily get at and with the beast completely content, Tatsuki took the pale and stool from Atsushi's hands and set them down on the ground by the cow's rear.

"Have you milked before?" She asked, getting a hose and starting to clean the cow's rump and utter with the water.

The cow didn't give a damn.

Atsushi stiffened, "N-No... I-I'm from Akita."

"The city?... No wonder you look like death warmed over." Tatsuki giggled, smoothly running her hand over the cow's fur and utter to ensure she was clean.

Atsushi glared for a moment before rubbing his face and brushing his hair behind an ear. He was sure he looked awful from having literally been dragged out of bed, but he had refused to look in the mirror because he didn't want it confirmed. He was tired, but well fed, so he begrudgingly accepted it since the food was good. He was not above being bribed.

"So, what brought you here?... To your uncle's that is." Tatsuki said, finishing with the hose and setting it down.

Atsushi's brows furrowed as he looked away from her, "Long story." He grumbled.

"We've got a little bit of time." Tatsuki said as she sat down on the stool next to the utter.

Atsushi huffed, "I uh... got kicked out of my house." He said simply, not really wanting to get into it.

"Troublemaker, hmm?" Tatsuki hummed.

"What?... No!... No, I mean-" he sighed, "I refused to play basketball like my dad wanted and he kicked me out." He said lowly as his shoulders slumped forward in a slouch.

"Oh... So does that mean you'll be going to school here too?" She asked as she grasped a teet of the utter and massaged it without a flinch from the cow happily munching on the hay.

"School?... There's a school-" he stopped himself, "I don't know... I guess so. Uncle Hiroshi hasn't said anything about it." He said with a soft sigh.

"Well, maybe I'll see you there then. My first year starts after summer vacation." Tatsuki said with a firm pull of the teet that squirt a long jet of white milk into the pail.

All Atsushi could do was watch with amazement as jet after jet squirt into the pail like the alternating barrels of a cannon. Each pull she made, more came out and it wasn't too long where the pail began to fill with fresh, straight out of the cow, milk.

Biting his bottom lip, Atsushi crouched down, bringing his knees all the way to his chest to watch. He felt kind of dumb for just watching, but being a city kid, milk was something that came from the market and it came in different thicknesses. Seeing it come directly from the source was entirely different, but despite feeling like a six year old child, he was still captivated that one of his favorite drinks that went with his favorite treats came out of a living creature.

As he watched, he rested his chin on his knees, but out of the corner of his eyes, he swore he kept seeing movement. He thought he had just imagined it at first, but every time he shifted his gaze up to look where he thought he had seen the movement, nothing was there. It was distracting, but when Tatsuki squeaked, his eyes focused as she rested her hand down on the cow's side with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh!... Oh! Baby's moving!... Here! Feel!" Tatsuki gleefully yelped as she snatched Atsushi's wrist and yanked his arm towards her.

He was pulled off his feet, forcing him to plant his available hand down on the ground while Tatsuki placed his other on the cow's belly, but the moment it was placed there, a flutter and a kick thumped against his palm.

"Huh?... W-What is that?" Atsushi asked as another flutter rolled over his palm.

"That's the calf... Her baby! It's why she's making all this milk. So her baby can drink it and grow strong." Tatsuki smiled wider as she guided Atsushi's hand to another spot.

Atsushi just held his breath as another flutter rolled, this one long and traveling near the whole length of his hand which was far, far larger than hers. Her hand rested next to his so she too could feel it and when she leaned in close, actually resting her ear to the cow's belly, her smile actually got bigger as she looked at him.

His eyes widened ever so slightly at the way her dark gray eyes seemed to light up, how her smile reached them as she placed her finger to her lips. The morning sun was making her pale skin glow gold and the sight of it made his chest flutter that felt oddly like the calf rolling around inside its mother. He shook his head to clear his mind, but when Tatsuki tapped his arm and pointed to the belly, not making a sound, he leaned in and placed his ear down to listen.

At first, he didn't hear anything, but not a half second later, a liquid gargle lolled against his ear. His eyes shot wide, staring right into Tatsuki's eyes as they listened to the calf that was only separated from them by a few layers of meat and skin. He had never heard anything like it before, never felt anything like it before and when the rolling flutter drifted across his cheek, he sat up stock straight and stared.

"T-There's... T-There's a small cow in there!" Atsushi gawked, placing both hands on the cow's belly to keep feeling the sensation.

"Mmhmm... Boy, she's not far away from dropping. I'd start expecting it real soon." Tatsuki said, sitting up herself to return to her milking.

"Dropping?... You mean it'll come out soon?" Atsushi asked, taking his hands away.

Tatsuki's brows lightly furrowed, "You're pretty dull aren't you."

"No!... If you meant birth, just say birth. I'm a city kid stuck on a farm in the middle of nowhere. 'Dropping' is not a term used in Akita when you're talking about reproduction." Atsushi defended himself, his brows drawn down as his eyes narrowed at her.

"Didn't know being here sucked that bad." Tatsuki sneered before opting to watch her hands work.

Atsushi wanted to growl, but it came out as a grumble instead as he just sat down in the dirt and hunched forward. He frowned as he just looked down at his hands, seeing the lightened patches of skin from barely there blisters from his morning's worth of work. Basketball had come in handy in that regard, in that it had roughened his palms to a point where they could at least resist the work, but his hands were nowhere near close enough to handle the amount his uncle's hand could sustain.

He sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, still avoiding looking at her, but he could hear her still milking, and soon felt it too when a warmed jet squirted into his face.

"Hey!" Atsushi flinched hard as he swiped a hand down his face from the milk jet.

Tatsuki lowly chuckled, "Quick sulking."

Atsushi glared hard as he lifted his shirt collar and dried his face, "I'm not sulking."

Again, Tatsuki squirt another jet, but this time, he saw it coming and leaned to the side for it to miss him entirely.

"You're a fast learner." She said, still with her smile in place.

Atsushi shrugged as he dropped his shirt collar, "I'm not dull."

Tatsuki shrugged in return before turning her attention back to milking, but Atsushi's large hand was soon in her line of sight when he clutched a teet and tried to squirt her, but nothing came out. Only the cow flinched and grunted.

"Hey!... Why didn't it work?" Atsushi grumbled, furrowing his brows as he slouched with disappointment.

Tatsuki's light and rather cute snicker returned, "Because you didn't do it right. Sit here and I'll show you." She said as she stood up and motioned toward the stool.

Atsushi's cheeks started to feel warm again as he rubbed the back of his neck, but under her gaze, he scooted over and sat down on the stool that was way, way too short not to make him look like a giant dork. His knees stuck up and he was so tall still, that he could barely see underneath the poor cow whom was still completely uncaring about what was doing on. He was kind of jealous actually.

"You can scoot back some if you want. You just have to see the teets." Tatsuki giggled, holding her hand up to try and hide it, but failed since Atsushi still glared up at her.

Atsushi rolled his eyes, but scooted back a foot to position himself just right. With his arm length, it didn't matter, but it had helped in somewhat bringing his height down to the point where he could actually see the half full pail of milk underneath the utter.

"Okay... Now watch carefully. This is how you do it." Tatsuki said as she knelt down next to him and reached for the utter.

She didn't care that her ear was suddenly very close to his shoulder, but Atsushi was more than aware of it as he leaned away a hair so not to crowd her. It had actually served a duel purpose, in that now, he could clearly see how she pinched the teet off towards the top, trapping milk inside and pulled, producing a long jet of milk that shot into the white liquid in the pail.

"Like that. Try it." Tatsuki said as she leaned away.

Atsushi sighed, but did so, his cheeks still feeling oddly warm as he did exactly what she had shown him to do except this time, he was able to also produce the same result.

"Perfect. Fill the pail, and I'll be back in a bit." Tatsuki said with a pat to his shoulder.

As she walked off, Atsushi just watched her go, how she clasped her hands behind her back and skipped along. Her long black hair swayed from side to side as she went and before she disappeared around the corner, he had never looked away until a warm jet slopped into the top of his shoe.

"Eh... Really?" Atsushi whined to himself.

He adjusted the teet and resumed his working, just listening to the cow chew and continue not giving a damn. He saw a few more rolls from the calf, but now that he was alone, he thought it was kind of creepy to see. It reminded him of those horror alien movies he had watched on the many nights he and his friends would stay up late on weekends back in middle school, and for some reason, they always wanted to see who would get the most scared. It made him shutter, but he ignored it and just watched the pail fill.

As the pail nearly reached the top, Tatsuki returned with another identical pail and switched them out, smiling at him before refilling the hay sack for the cow and carting off the filled pail. He watched her then too, and since she was wearing a tank top with her overalls, it afforded him a look that she was not some lithe little thing who couldn't lift a feather, but rather would make _him_ work should they get into a show of strength. She was able to carry the heavy pail without trouble, or spilling a drop as she disappeared into the house.

With the task of filling another pail, Atsushi listened, just listened to everything around him. The cow chewing, the sound the milk made hitting the pail and the birds and crickets chirping away as if they couldn't tell that it was daytime. He heard the horses whinny a bit behind the barn, the chickens cluck as they milled about randomly and the goats bah as they worked to get into whatever they could. He heard the dog barking wildly as it tore around from behind the barn, running like it was getting chased and turned straight for him with a glove in its mouth.

"You idiot! Get back here!" He heard his uncle's voice booming from somewhere well behind the barn.

The dog, whose actually name he still didn't know because his uncle always used a different one, came running straight for him and dropped the glove at his feet, panting and wide eyed. It's shaggy fur was damp on the bottom from having trudged through belly high whatever and with it's black nose, started sniffing his arm up and down and even tried lapping up some of the milk.

"Eh!... Stop it, Dog!" Atsushi glared as he pushed the dog away.

The dog refused to take no for an answer as it tried to go back for the milk and again, again with Atsushi pushing it away. The dog was dumb, completely oblivious to words and no matter how many times Atsushi pushed the dog away, it kept coming back.

"Stop it! Nobody wants your dog breath in the milk!" Atsushi fired off, but the dog turned its attention to him.

The dog jumped up, planting its paws firm on his chest and started furiously licking his face with its slobbery, uncontrollable tongue.

"No! Stop it! Not me! I don't want your dog breath either!" Atsushi howled as he tried to push the dog off, but the little idiot was deceptively strong and refused to budge.

He growled as he kept whipping his head from side to side to avoid the dog's tongue, but mercy finally came when the dog jumped off and dashed for the milk.

"Oi! Knock it off, you inbred moron!"

At the sharp voice, the dog finally stopped, wagging its tail with precisely no coordination as it tore off towards Atsushi's uncle, whom was wearing a thick leather apron that was covered in blood.

"Dumbass! Don't steal my gloves!" Hiroshi barked at the dog, whom instantly cowered and tucked its tail as it trotted back and picked up the glove to bring it back.

Atsushi dried his face from the slobber with his t-shirt as his uncle snatched the glove from the dog's mouth and thwacked its bum with it, which, for some reason, only served to made the dog smile again and bound off like it just got a treat.

"Stupid dog." Hiroshi grumbled as he dusted off the rescued glove on his thigh.

"Um... Are you okay, Uncle Hiroshi?" Atsushi asked as his violet eyes bounced from the apron, up to his uncle's eyes and back down again.

"Yeah... Just the dirtier side of living out here, Kiddo. Where'd Tatty go?" Hiroshi asked as he set his hands on his hips.

"She took a pail of milk into the house." Atsushi said with a point.

Hiroshi nodded, "She must be looking at making ice cream."

"Ice cream!" Atsushi yelped, sitting up stick straight and with wide, hopeful and sparkling eyes.

Hiroshi pinched the bridge of his nose, but it was only really to hide the fact that he was having a hard time controlling a smirk.

"Finish up there and take it inside for her." Hiroshi grunted before turning and walking away, only then letting out his low chuckle that Atsushi's ears caught.

With another long sigh, Atsushi resumed filling the bucket, but he couldn't stop the yawn from tightening in the back of his jaw. Being woken up at 3am was catching up with him and having worked from then on was only adding fuel to the fire. He had never, in his life, worked so hard, for so long. Even basketball practice wasn't this hard. That was easy. It was put the ball in the hoop and stop the other guy from doing the same. It was simple, but farm work was the exact opposite. He was going to have to get used to it because it's not like he had anywhere else to go.

With a final squirt, the second pail was full and the utter was noticeably smaller. He sighed as he stood and pulled the pail out from underneath the cow, resting a hand down on the cow's side where he felt those flutters of the calf again. He startled at the suddenness of it, but almost immediately relaxed once he remembered what it was. He looked around as he wondered what to do with the cow, as he didn't just want to leave the poor thing there while he took the pail inside, but without anyone to ask, he had little choice.

Scooting the pail away, Atsushi untied the cow and lead her away from the post just like he had seen Tatsuki do, gripping the lead right underneath the cow's fuzzy chin. She didn't care, still had that dull look in her eyes as she chewed and when Atsushi turned her loose back in the pasture, he lightly smiled as he watched her go about her day.

"Hey! Atsushi! Got that second pail?" Called Tatsuki from the house, having poked her head out of the back door of the house.

"Yeah! Be right there!" Atsushi called back, affording the cow one last glance before shutting the gate and heading back towards the house.

He hadn't been sure what to expect when he got back into the kitchen where he knew he would find Tatsuki, but what he found certainly wasn't it. She was happily working away doing several things, from boiling a large portion of the milk, to churning it in a mixing bowl with her hands, to having mixed up a thick mixture that was churning in a stand mixture in that thick sided and strange bowl he had seen her put in the freezer. The kitchen smelt like heated milk, but it was buttery and warm and he had to admit, despite not really liking warm milk, it didn't smell bad when it was whole.

"Awesome. Just set it in the sink. Pail and all." Tatsuki said, softly smiling as she worked whatever was in the bowl.

"What're you doing?" Atsushi asked as he put the pail in the sink to earn a nod from her.

"Making cheese." Tatsuki said.

"Cheese? What kind?" Atsushi asked, being tall enough to look into the bowl at the softball sized white lumped she was working.

"Mozzarella." Tatsuki aid.

"The cheese on pizza?" Atsushi swallowed down more drool. _Goddammit! I'm gonna get fat eating here!_

"Exactly. There's so much you can do with fresh milk. Thanks for turning Gretchen out. You really do learn quick." Tatsuki said, this time looking up to smile at him.

Again with warmed cheeks, "T-Thanks." He mumbled almost too quietly for even him to hear.

Not really sure what else to do, he washed his hands and wiped his face, still catching hints of dog slobber and milk. He already knew he was going to have to take another shower, but he would like to at least make most of the day without needing it. He was going to go through clothes way too fast if this pace kept up, so with that decided, he made his way to his room, but not before stopping at the stand mixer to see what it was churning.

"Hey!... Get away from there, Atsushi!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It had been a week; A full week of backbreaking, labor intensive work that every inch of his 6'10 stature was suffering from. He hurt everywhere, but despite that, his uncle, whom was looking more and more like Satan everyday, continued to wake him up at 3am by kicking him and then snatching up his ear between his knuckles.

However, it had also been a week of the most delicious, delectable meals he had ever had the privilege of eating.

From then on, his days didn't end until well after sundown after spending the day in the sun mucking stalls, feeding the animals, keeping an eye on Gretchen, only to go on to house chores that ranged from preparing meals for later, doing his laundry, cleaning the house, washing the truck, sifting through a few corns talks from the back of the fields to give to Tatsuki the days she came over and all while his uncle worked on butchering the pig and a number of chickens to get them ready for the farmer's market. It had been a long, exhausting week and Atsushi couldn't stop yawning.

Sunday had finally arrived, and they had still gotten up at 3 to get the morning chores done before packing up the truck with several foam coolers worth of freshly butchered and prepared meats. It had been a lengthy drive into town 25 miles away, but one where Atsushi had managed to catch a nap despite the cramped space and the dumb dog that kept trying to stick its tongue up his nose. They had pulled into the market far sooner than he would have liked, but with the sun freshly risen, and the air warm, he found himself staring at the sight before him.

He had never seen something like it before; So many booths that people were setting up with the things they had brought from all over the countryside. There was fresh vegetables and fruits, berries and nuts, and even giant ears of corn that had been pulled from stalks only days before. There was handmade items like clothes and blankets, even jewelry and home decorations like wind chimes and hand carved wooden plaques that had been painted with a wide range of colors. There was even carts where people were cooking up special recipes that only they knew and instead of smelling the morning air that he had gotten used to, there was the smell of sweets and food wafting up that he couldn't ignore.

"Oi!... Dazed and Confused! Wake up!"

Atsushi suddenly snapped out of it when his uncle poked him hard in the arm for him to set down the cooler on the ground behind their booth, directly across from the confection booth Tatsuki was happily setting up for the day. Instead of saying anything, he just bent over and set it down where his uncle tore off the tape and started pulling plastic wrapped cuts of meat to place them onto the ice beds laid out on their booth. He went back to the truck bed and picked up the next one, setting it down next to the other, but when he tried to stand, his legs suddenly started screaming with ache that made him rest a hand down on the booth to steady himself.

"You alright, Kiddo?" Hiroshi asked, standing up with several prime cuts of pork that he set down with the others.

"Yeah... Just feeling sluggish." Atsushi said quietly as he rested a hand on his forehead and took a moment to breathe.

Hiroshi arced a brow, "That's saying something coming from you."

Atsushi glared down and frowned, "I just ache all over." He grumbled, deciding it best to just let it go.

"You coming down with something?" Hiroshi asked as he just watched his nephew.

Atsushi shrugged, "I don't know. I just feel... bleh." He said, releasing a long sigh as he stretched with the hopes that it would push back the ache.

Hiroshi's brows just furrowed as he stared for a moment, giving him time to finish arranging the cuts before tugging on Atsushi's sleeve to bring his head down a bit. The giant boy didn't refuse as he reached up and swept his purple hair aside, placing the back of his hand against Atsushi's forehead, but his frown only grew at the heat that felt oddly warmer than it should.

"You do feel kinda warm. You gonna make it?" His uncle asked as he took his hand back.

"I should. It's probably just an ache from working all week." Atsushi said, trying not to grumble, but it came out anyways as his legs pulsed with that all over ache.

"Doubt it. You're more conditioned for work than you think." Hiroshi said, offering one last glance at his nephew before crouching down and picking up more cuts and strips of meat from the cooler.

Atsushi just sighed as he took another moment to breathe through the worst of the ache before retrieving the last of the coolers from the truck. The ache was creeping up his body like he was sinking in quicksand and when he set down the third cooler, he had to slap his hand into the booth to keep from falling over.

"Whoa... Okay there, Kiddo. Yeah, you're not up to snuff. Park it here for a second and I'll get you a stool to sit on so you don't knock that thick head of yours on anything harder." Hiroshi said as he helped Atsushi sit down on the sidewalk's curb.

"I'm fine, Uncle Hiroshi. I just lost my balance." Atsushi said with a frown, but refused to look up at his uncle.

"No... No you didn't." Hiroshi said before going to the truck.

Atsushi just planted his feet and arced his knees up, setting his elbows down on them while he rubbed his forehead. He really did feel hot, but having spent a week in the sun most likely resulted in getting a bit burned to some degree. His skin, which was usually on the pale side, didn't feel tender, or sensitive, so the sunburn idea was fading just like the darkness of his early morning. The ache was getting worse, had been since the day before, so the idea of what it was being replaced with, was that he really was coming down with something.

Hiroshi returned from the truck with a tall folding stool that he set down behind the booth before offering his hand to help Atsushi up. The help was appreciated as he clambered to his feet and when he got to sit down on the stool, the relief he was flooded with was so welcomed that he audibly sighed and closed his eyes to relish in it.

"Thank you, Uncle Hiroshi. That helps." Atsushi said, blowing out a breath as he opened his eyes.

"Yeah... I wouldn't be surprised if you're down for the count in the next day, or so. System Shock isn't fun, but you'll live." Hiroshi said with a firm pat to Atsushi's shoulder, which was now even with his.

"System Shock?" Atsushi arced a brow as he leaned over and started handing cuts to his uncle.

"You know... When you have a big change in your life and your body can't handle it all that well, so it gets sick. We call it System Shock." Hiroshi said without looking up from placing his goods.

"Great... I don't wanna get sick." Atsushi whined, handing over the last of the cuts before huffing out a breath to move the strand of purple hair in front of his face.

"Get ready for it... And pull your hair back so you don't look like a bum." Hiroshi said, this time with his usual gruffness as he sent a sidelong glare at his tall nephew.

Atsushi's shoulders slumped, but he wasn't about to refuse what he wanted. He had learned real fast that doing so usually resulted in his ear getting ripped off, or the back of his head smacked. His uncle was not above climbing just to reach him and not wanting to get smacked, especially since every nerve ending in his body was thumping, he slipped the hair tie from his wrist to hold it in his teeth while he pulled his shoulder length locks back to halfway up the back of his skull.

"That's better." Hiroshi huffed, stepping around to the front of the booth to place all the tags with the prices on them.

Atsushi just sighed as several rebellious locks fell free to frame his face, reaching all the way down to his chin and tickling his jaw. He gave his head a quick shake to move them as he gripped the meat of his shoulder, and as he massaged, he looked across the street to Tatsuki's booth which was awash with all the colors of the rainbow in soft pastels.

Her booth was laden with cookies and cupcakes, homemade chocolates and even cracker sticks she had dipped in chocolate, both milk and dark, and she even had some coated with strawberry and caramel. She had homemade caramels she had wrapped in thin plastic tied with ribbon, hard candies in the shape of barn animals and even little assorted baggies that had little bits of everything. There was pastries filled with jelly and topped with frosting, mason jars filled with hot cocoa mix and even bake-at-home recipe kits that had all been arranged in pretty packages in decorated mason jars. He wanted to eat every last bit of it because not only was Tatsuki a skilled farmhand, but she made magic happen in the kitchen.

With a gulp, Atsushi continued to stare, catching Tatsuki's smile as she hummed to herself and beamed at him. She was a nice girl, almost too nice, but when it came to her baking, he learned just as fast to not get in her way. He had tried sneaking a taste of her homemade ice cream, and not having any sort of experience with a stand mixer, his finger nearly got wrapped up in the auger which earned him a wooden spoon smacked into his knuckles. Back in Akita, he was used to being that imposing figure, that one person that no one was willing to piss off because he was 16, 6'10 and 218 pounds, but out in the country, he was just another human. They were used to dealing with things far larger than them and despite being 6' feet tall herself, Tatsuki Himuro wasn't at all intimidated by his size.

Just remembering the painful smack made him shutter as he looked away from her, returning his attention back to the nearly readied booth and his own body ache. He dropped his arm down into his lap, slipping the cuffs of his cardigan sweater over his hands, but when his uncle thrust a lockbox into his arms, he sat perfectly still with the hopes of not drawing attention.

"Can you can handle the booth while I'm gone?" Hiroshi asked, setting a folding TV tray down next to him so he could set the box down.

"Uh... Where're you going?" Atsushi asked with an arced brow and hiding his hands back into his sweater.

"To the school. It's about 10 miles back. I'm going to get you signed up before it's passed the cut off." Hiroshi said, placing the last sign before seating the lids back on the emptied coolers.

"Great... Now I have to bust my ass at home, and at school." Atsushi sighed, again hunching over as he hung his head.

"Life's tough, Kiddo." Was all Hiroshi said, clapping Atsushi's shoulder once more before heading for the truck with the emptied coolers.

As Hiroshi closed up the bed of the truck, Atsushi just stared off in a daze, only huffing a breath out of his nose to clear his sinuses when the grouchy truck throttled to life and drove away in a puff of exhaust and burnt oil. His head was starting to hurt, but with the booth all set up and with a little time to spare, he got to just sit, which he hadn't been able to do the whole week.

Releasing another tired sigh, Atsushi yawned, covering his mouth with his sweater covered hand to hide it. The ache wasn't going away and the more it fizzed, the more he was beginning to accept that he was about to go down like some lame animal. He hated being sick, absolutely loathed it. He hated how heavy it made him feel, hated how sluggish it made him because it wasn't on his own terms and hated, abhorred, how it made him lose his appetite for anything and everything. Being sick sucked.

"Atsushi?"

With a start, Atsushi sat up stick straight, starting to breathe again once his heart started back up. He had zoned out while the ache lolled him off into a daze and once his eyes started to focus once more, he set his lavender orbs on Tatsuki, whom was standing in front of the booth with a pretty pink cupcake cradled in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Tatsuki asked, her dark gray eyes expressing soft concern.

"Yeah... Just achy is all." Atsushi nodded, but lied so not to garnish any more attention to himself.

"Oh... Well, maybe this will help. I made you an extra." Tatsuki said, her smile returning as she held out the cupcake to him.

His eyes briefly widened as he stared at the small confection, how the pastel pink frosting swirled and frilled like a rose, and it smelt of sugar and strawberries. A small little piece of rose colored candy was nestled in the middle and wrapped delicately around the cup was pretty red ribbon whose ends curled in tight ringlets like perfectly styled hair. It was almost too beautiful to eat.

"S-Strawberry?" Atsushi asked, offering his palm for her to set the cupcake down.

"Strawberry cream. My own recipe." Tatsuki softly chuckled as she released the treat into his care.

He didn't need to put the confection to his nose to smell the delicate scent, taking in a deep inhale to set his sinuses alight with sugar and warmth. The frosting seemed to sparkle in the fresh morning sun and the small candy in the middle was in the shape of a little pig. The rose color was not too far off the actual hue of the beasts and he even had little chocolate eyes.

"It's cute." Atsushi said, lightly smiling down at the treat.

"Thank you... The little candy is chocolate and there's even cream inside." Tatsuki said, clasping her hands in front of her as she chuckled.

Atsushi bit his lip, but raised the cupcake to his mouth and bit down, biting off a rather small bite to immediately have his senses erupt in sweetness and the soft aroma of strawberry. The frosting on top was creamy and smooth, not at all gritty like mass produced treats he could buy at the convenience store. It was so smooth and delicate that it didn't even stick to his tongue as he chewed. The cream inside the pink fluff was just as smooth and added that milky cream flavor to the entire thing and as he swallowed his bite, it hit his stomach like fluff and love.

"Oh... It's good." Atsushi near moaned with a smile before taking another bite.

Tatsuki's cheeks burst with pink near the same color as the frosting that was stuck to the corner of Atsushi's lips.

"Thank you... The trick is using fine grain sugar instead of regular table top." She said, biting her bottom lip and continuing to smile.

Atsushi finished the cupcake, having saved the little chocolate pig for last as he popped it into his mouth where it instantly melted into a smooth, milky liquid. His body didn't ache anymore, or he just wasn't paying attention, but the cupcake had been so good that it had drawn all of his attention away from it. He was completely content to let the flavor linger and fall into its embrace, but when he felt a warm finger against his cheek, his eyes snapped open as he saw Tatsuki swipe away some lingering frosting from the corner of his mouth.

"Sorry... Frosting." Tatsuki said quietly, her blush deepening again as she tried to think of what to do with the small frosting lump.

Atsushi tried to speak, his mouth even opened, but nothing came out; Just airy squeaks that sounded like a tire had sprung a leak. He felt his cheeks getting flushed, even felt his heart thumping sporadically in his chest, and when his head started to whirl from not breathing, he snapped out of it and scrubbed his face with both hands in an attempt to hide.

"S-Sorry... I think maybe Uncle Hiroshi might be right." Atsushi finally spoke, looking up from his hands to see Tatsuki wipe her finger on her apron around her waist.

"Hmm? Right about what?" Tatsuki asked, her sweet smile fading away.

 _Quick! Lie that I'm blushing!_ "H-He thinks I might be coming down with... What did he call it?... Um... System Shock?" Atsushi thought out loud.

"Oh!... Oh, you poor thing!" Tatsuki's concerned eyes returned as she stepped around the booth.

However, all he could do was watch, but when she leaned in close, close enough for him to feel the heat from her skin, he couldn't move fast enough with the body ache as she softly rested her lips against his forehead.

"W-W-What're you doing?" Atsushi stuttered, staying stock still and desperately trying not to shake from the contact.

Her lips were only on his forehead for a few moments, but they weren't puckered, or plumped as if she were kissing him, they were perfectly still and neutral. She wasn't kissing him like he first thought, she was doing something else; She was checking his temperature.

"S-Sorry... The lips are the most sensitive to temperatures, so I checked to see if you were running a fever." She said, shying into her own shoulders as she took a step back.

Atsushi rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh... Um... Well?"

"Um... You feel a bit warm to me." She said, nervously biting her bottom lip as she tried, gave it a solid effort, to hold eye contact.

"I just ache... Maybe I'll get lucky." Atsushi said quietly and with a light half shrug.

"Maybe... I'll get you some water. Maybe that'll help." She said, not even waiting a second before spinning and hurrying off.

All he did was sit and stare, stunned silent and not really having the energy to try and think about what she had done. He guessed it made sense, not really having any sort of room to say otherwise, but if all she was doing was making sure her part-time employer's nephew was in good health, he supposed it was harmless. He ached too much to care, too much to really even think and when she returned with a bottle of water for him, he merely said his thanks before the market opened for the day.

He had never seen so many people before, trying to squeeze through the street and all stopping to look at one thing, or another. Everyone seemed happy, completely without any sort of sad thought, or bad day. They all wanted to browse, to shop the available wares and goodies and they even stopped at his booth to look and admire the meat that had been butchered a few days before.

Back in Akita, most viewed him as dimwitted and dull, completely inept at everything unless it was basketball related. He always had this bored look on his face, his hair was as energetic as he was and with his mouth constantly stuffed with junk food, speaking usually garnished attention since he didn't do it often. From the outside, he was merely a dumb boy, but in reality, he wasn't an idiot, but rather, he was smart enough to be bored and the only ones whom ever saw it, were those in his advanced physics class.

Where he excelled at physics, math came in at a close second and it was that math that allowed him to work the booth with little trouble. He sat there on the stool and took people's money, bagged what cuts they wanted and counted their change from the lockbox, all while managing to put on a light smile so he appeared nice. The day went on and on and the entire time, Tatsuki's booth was socked in with hordes of people wanting her baked goods. It was rare she got a chance to scoot away, but the few times she did, she always stopped by to see how he was doing.

Every time she asked, he would just say he was fine, but in actuality, he was getting worse. The all over ache had finally crept up into his head, making it throb with its own pulse and pressed against the back of his eyes. Even the day's light was getting to be too much for him and as such, he had to slow it down when he was helping customers, or risk making a mistake. He wanted to lay down, to close his eyes and sleep until he felt better, but he doubted if he was actually going to get that chanced.

His uncle didn't return until hours later, climbing out of the truck with a plastic bag he hadn't left with. He chucked it at him before taking over the booth for a bit, giving Atsushi a much needed break as he peered inside the bag to see three school uniforms that consisted of gray plaid pants, a white collared shirt, a black cardigan sweater and a red tie. He checked their sizes to find them correct, and he was relieved that the pants were actually long enough to reach his feet. Apparently, the school was used to large students, where his previous school had to special order his uniform to fit his, at the time, 6'1 frame. At least he wouldn't look like a dork at his new school.

Finally, as if mercy had been gifted to him, it was finally time to close up shop and head home. The entire day, his aches just got worse and by the time his uncle pulled the truck up the driveway to park, Atsushi felt like he weighed as much as a draught horse and that was just his head.

"Go lay down. I'll bring you something to drink." His uncle said with very little emotion as he got out of the truck, followed by the dumb dog.

Atsushi just blew out a stiff breath as he forced himself to move, opening the door and flopping out of the truck as if he had just fallen out. He scuffed his way into the house and no longer than it took for him to take off his nearly spent tennis shoes, he flopped down on the couch and arced an arm over his eyes.

All he did was lay there and listen as his uncle clanked around in the kitchen, just trying to rest and ignore the ache that thundered all over him. It was getting harder and harder to breathe through his nose and instead of trying, it was easier to pant out of his mouth. He was exhausted and just wanted to be left alone, but when his uncle sat down on the edge of the couch, surprisingly gently, a cold stick was thrust into his mouth and under his tongue.

No more than a few minutes later, the thermometer beeped and when his uncle pulled it out to check its reading, his suspicions were confirmed; Atsushi was sick and with a fever of a 102.

"Sick. As. Hell," his uncle sighed, "Get to bed. Get some rest and we'll see how you feel in the morning." Hiroshi said as he stood up from the couch.

Atsushi just nodded and trudged upstairs.

* * *

There was no feeling better in the morning. There was no relief from the all over ache, no reprieve from the pounding in his head and there was absolutely no chance of breathing through his nose. He shivered beneath the blanket that wasn't big enough to cocoon himself in and he just laid there as still as possible, or risked being assaulted by the constant ache and chilled sweat that had encompassed his entire body. His teeth chattered and he refused to open his eyes despite the muted daylight hitting them.

Daylight.

With a groan, Atsushi finally opened his eyes enough to peer out his window where he didn't remember drawing the curtains closed. They muted the daylight that was clearly set in outside and as much as he wondered if it was the same day, or not, he didn't have the energy to get up and find out.

He simply laid there and chattered, shivering down to his bones as he curled himself tighter into a ball to try and squeeze under the blanket, but there was always at least one foot that couldn't quite fit. He dug his toes into the sheets to try and get warm, but it was always just out of reach. He whimpered from the ache and the cold, but needing to go the bathroom was enough to make him want to cry. He didn't want to get up just to get there.

With a hard cough that shook and vibrated in his chest, he groaned as he pushed himself up, letting the blanket fall from his t-shirt and boxers clad body. He had tried sweats and a hoodie, but too soon, he always got too hot and ended up shedding them anyways and as such, he hadn't slept well at all. His teeth continued to chatter as he gripped the edge of the bed, but the effort it was going to take just to get to his feet was so monumental, that he was hesitant to try. He blew out a few breaths in preparation, but when the doorbell rang downstairs, he just sat and listened through his muddied ears.

He couldn't make out any words, but he could hear mumbling downstairs, and it only lasted a few minutes before soft footsteps began to come up the stairs. They didn't sound right, didn't sound like his uncle's heavy confident stomps, but rather were delicate, soft even. He just sat there breathing through his mouth and when a soft knock sounded against his door, he swallowed, coughed and finally spoke in a plugged up voice.

"Hello?" Atsushi jumbled out before he lightly coughed into a fist again and tried to inhale through his nose with no success.

The doorknob turned and creaked open, the noise grating against his already sensitive hearing, but it mercifully stopped when his visitor poked their head in.

"Oh, Atsushi... You look awful." Tatsuki said softly and quietly as she fully stepped inside with the familiar basket in hand.

"I feel awful." Atsushi breathed nasally, not moving as he just sat on his bed with a dreary look in his eyes.

Tatsuki pouted as she set the basket down on the bed and cupped his chin, lifting his face up just enough to brush aside some of his hair, but she never got a chance to when he was suddenly racked with a cough.

He held his breath to hold it back just long enough until he got the crook of his elbow up to bury his face in it. The cough jolted through him, thundered through his entire trunk and the harder he coughed, the more his head pounded and made him wince.

"Ow-" Atsushi crooned out before giving up on sitting and just flopped over onto his side with his legs still hanging off the bed.

Tatsuki pouted out of sympathy at the sight of him as she bent down and grasped his ankle, lifting the blanket to tuck him in, but despite not resisting her kindness, he groaned out the real reason he was sitting up.

"I have to pee." Atsushi groaned out with his arm flopped over his face.

Tatsuki froze and just blinked a few times while her brain registered what he said, and tossing the blanket aside, she threaded an arm beneath him and helped him back up.

"It's a good thing you're tall, Muro-Chin." Atsushi said dully, nearly collapsing again from how much energy it took just to talk as she hoisted him up to his feet.

"Yeah... Took after my dad." She said quietly, keeping an arm around his back as he gripped her opposite shoulder for support.

"I did too." Atsushi said, blinking ultra slowly as she lead him out of his room, but made sure to take their time so he didn't trip on his wobbly feet.

"Your dad's tall too?" She asked with a brief glance up to him as she turned them down the hall towards the bathroom.

Atsushi nodded as he kept a hand on the wall, "Yeah... He's 6'9." He stared at the bathroom door just up ahead.

"So you're taller?" She asked.

"Mmhmm... But he's stronger than me, so I didn't tend to stand up to him until I got taller." Atsushi mumbled out as he reached for the door frame of the bathroom.

"Ah... Makes sense, I suppose," she released him to step into the bathroom on his own, "Here... Take your time and I'll wait out here." She said as he shut the door.

With a light sigh, Tatsuki crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall while she waited. Hiroshi had called her for her help taking care of his nephew, as he had become so sick that even the brash and hardened man didn't have the heart to wake him up early to help with chores. He had let him sleep and needed her to watch after him so he could focus on taking care of the farm.

A couple minutes later, She heard the toilet flush and the water turn on, and soon after, the door opened as Atsushi padded out with a relieved look in his eyes, but still gripping the door frame to help support him. She wrapped her arm around his back once more and lead him back to his room, and once he was laying back down in his short bed, half curled just to fit, she covered him with more blankets and went to get a cool rag.

As he waited, he just laid there, not moving out of fear that if he did, his body would thunder with more ache. Just keeping his eyes open was a chore and as Tatsuki returned, holding a cool and damp rag, his half-lidded and blurry eyes watched her as she brushed aside his sweaty hair and set the folded cloth onto his heated forehead.

"There. That should help a little bit." She said quietly, continuing to softly brush his hair from clinging to his skin.

"I'm already cold." Atsushi breathed, just watching her as he shivered and his lower jaw quivered.

"You only feel cold because you're so warm. Have you checked your temperature lately?" She asked, softly brushing her thumb over his temple to make him feel as calm as possible.

Atsushi just shook his head, but kept watching her.

Tatsuki stood and went to her basket, flipping open the top and began pulling out a few items. She set down a water bottle, a glass, a small bottle of aspirin and a bottle of cough medicine before pulling a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a covered thermometer. The basket seemed to be filled with items meant to help her take care of him and when she knelt down beside him, she pulled off the cover of the thermometer and held it out for his mouth to take.

"How come you're here? Isn't today your off day?" Atsushi asked through the thermometer settled under his tongue.

"Your uncle called me to come and help take care of you so he could focus on chores. He let you sleep." She said, continuing to keep her voice low so not to cause him pain from his overly sensitive hearing.

"How long?" Atsushi mumbled.

"Almost a full day. It's Monday." She near whispered, flipping the rag over to its cool side.

"Oh-... I guess this hit me hard." Atsushi breathed out with the thermometer clacking against his teeth.

Tatsuki nodded, "Yeah, now hush and let the thermometer work." She smiled.

Atsushi just nodded as he lay there, slowly blinking and and looking at her as she cared for him. She poured him a glass of the bottle's contents, finding it to be orange juice she had made just that morning. She set out a pair of the small pills next to the glass as the thermometer beeped and when she took it out of his mouth and looked at it, she frowned.

"Oh dear... 102.5. Here, take these. It should help bring the fever down just a bit." She said, setting the thermometer down before helping him to sit up.

Atsushi tried not to hiss from the constant ache, but every muscle howled as he flexed to sit up. He cringed as he planted a hand down onto the mattress to help stabilize him, but if it wasn't for her and her arm behind his shoulders, he wouldn't even have made it that far.

Once sitting up, and the blankets having fallen away, his shivering got worse, but despite it, he took the aspirin and popped it into his mouth to be chased by a sip of the orange juice that was tangy instead of acidic. It was nice and soothing and it was cool enough in his overheating body to feel it sliding down his throat. He took a few more sips until she took the glass from him and instead of letting him flop down, which could result in jarring his headache, she helped him and gently laid his head down on his pillow.

"You need to rest, Atsushi. The more you rest, the quicker your body will calm down." She said, combing his sweat clumped hair away from his neck to slip a dry towel beneath it to help keep him dry.

"I don't like System Shock." Atsushi groaned out, softly whimpering as she set the rag back down on his forehead.

"No one does... It tends to hit the city kids pretty hard." She whispered as she tucked the edges of the blankets beneath him to wrap him up nice and warm.

Atsushi covered his mouth with the edge of the blanket to stifle his painful dry cough, each heave rattling and vibrating against his sternum and causing him to wince.

Sending him a sympathetic smile, Tatsuki stood from the edge of the bed and went to her basket, pulling one last item in the form of a small jar no bigger than her palm. She sat back down with barely a jarring of the bed and in the spot where his body was curled around her, under his dreary gaze the entire time, but when she tugged the blanket down and out of his tight grasp, he whined.

"Muro-Chin... Cold." Atsushi groaned, breathing a bit heavier to stave off the clattering of his teeth and jaw.

"I know, but it'll only be for a minute while I put this on." She said sweetly as she unscrewed the top of the jar and set the lid down on his nightstand.

All he could find the energy to do was watch as she scooped her fingers into the jar to coat them with a generous amount of opaque gel. He didn't know what it was, let alone if it smelt like anything since his sinuses were so plugged up, but when she lifted the collar of his t-shirt and began smearing it over his chest, his skin felt instantly cooled.

She continued to smear the gel over his skin, running her fingers along his collarbone and down over his pectorals to ease the rattling ache from his dry heaving cough. Her touch was soft and gentle and even when she had finished, she settled his t-shirt back down and rubbed his chest until he was warm.

"You rest... Get some sleep." She said with a gentle smile as her only visible eye gazed down at him with sweet intent.

Atsushi just nodded as he let himself melt at her touch, how the soothing and slow circles seemed to be lolling him off to sleep. His eyes were impossibly getting heavier and his chest seemed to settle down, but when the barest hint of menthol hit his nose, his eyes opened a bit wider as his nostrils began to tighten just before they opened up.

"I can breathe." He breathed out as he started to breathe through his nose, which settled him even more.

Tatsuki just nodded and widened her smile as she continued to rub his chest, watching how he seemed to sink back into his bed with his head dropping back into the pillow and to the side. His eyes tried so hard to stay open, but in the end, with the menthol, the aspirin that was part sleep aid, and the gentle circles she was running over his chest, he was asleep in no time.

Taking another moment to look at his sleeping face, Tatsuki had to admit that he looked precious, almost adorable despite knowing how tall he stood. His nose was reddened from having blown it, or tried to, so many times and his cheeks were flushed, but he was breathing better and finally resting comfortably to let the controlled fever work in rebooting his system. He was a city kid, born and raised, and having suddenly found himself living and working in the countryside had shocked his system so much, it had put him down. He would be alright in just a couple of days, but with one final moment of admiration, she tucked him in nice and warm and left to let him rest.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Author's Note: Have a great weekend everyone! Chapter 6 comes Monday!**

System Shock didn't quite seem to be the right name for it. Catastrophic System Failure seemed more like it because for three whole days, Atsushi suffered with all over body ache, that dry heaving cough and a nose that would stop up worse than a clogged pipe unless he put the menthol gel on his chest. It was miserable, but in the middle of the third night, he had awoken drenched in so much sweat, he could swim when his fever broke.

His system rebooted, he was able to get back on track with waking up at 3 to help with the day's chores, eat breakfast and go about the day with the rest of the chores unless it was a day Tatsuki would come to help out. Those days, he found he was enjoying the most because of all the things she would do in the kitchen. She was more than just a stable hand, she was his uncle's cook and since she would make a couple days worth of meals for him, it gave him the time to focus on caring for the farm. He helped her those days, to bake and cook and prepare and he was finding that it was something he was enjoying.

Those had been the following weeks, and now, summer vacation was over and he was crammed onto an old bus on his way to school. It was still mostly warm outside with the slightest hint of chill in the mornings, but it was comfortably handled with just the black sweater cardigan of his school uniform. He hugged his bag that rested on his lap as he stared out the window, listening to music on his earbuds without a care. He wasn't thinking about anything at all except admiring the sunrise that painted the sky. He didn't know what his weeks would look like now that hours of school was getting added into the mix and he just hoped that it wouldn't throw his system into a panic again. So long as that didn't happen, he could deal with it.

He drew in a huge breath as the bus slowed and turned down a long drive, pulling his earbuds out to put them away and turn off the music app on his phone. He turned off its ringer in favor of vibrate before slipping it into the side pocket of his shoulder bag while the bus slowed even more and came to a stop at a two story building that was so widespread that he couldn't get an entire look at it through the window. It wasn't the first time he had seen the school, as he had had to go to the open house orientation for the first years, but it was still huge in the fact that it was also surrounded by farm fields, crop and so many barns that it, itself, looked like a farm.

With a loud hiss, the bus stopped and opened its door to let the students out, all seemingly jovial and smiling despite it being early and most likely having been awake since 3 in the morning. He was slowly getting used to it and as he stood, he had to duck his head low to avoid hitting it against the top of the bus. Not a single other student had sat with him, mainly because he took up most of the two person seat, but that didn't stop him from having to wait his turn to get off the cramped bus. The whole time he walked towards the front, he had to keep his head ducked down to his chest and when he started down the stairs of the exit, he actually had to hunch over to make it through.

Free of the confines of the bus, Atsushi gripped his bag to his shoulder as he stood up straight, earning several stares from others students all in the same uniform. They just stared up at him, certainly not an act he hadn't experienced before, but he started to feel like a prized animal on display the longer they stared.

With a huff, Atsushi adjusted the shoulder strap of his bag and started for the wide spread of glass front doors of the school, easily winding his way around clusters of others whom had gathered along the long and wide swath of concrete lined with trees to talk. Birds chirped all around him and students laughed, but when his name was called, he stopped as his eyes widened.

Tatsuki was beaming and waving at him as she strode towards him, wearing the girl's version of the uniform which consisted of the black cardigan sweater, the white collared shirt and red tie, but instead of plaid pants, she wore a plaid skirt with black knee high socks. The skirt fell to mid thigh on her, and having gotten used to seeing her in her overalls and tank top, he was afforded his first real look at just how long her legs were.

They went on for miles.

 _Holy shit! You could land a plane on those legs!_ Atsushi gulped, but as he started to raise a hand to wave back at her, a trio of fresh and cocky third years stepped in front of her and stopped her path.

"Damn girl!... You got one hell of a set of stems on you!" One boy crooned, whom stood a bit shorter than Tatsuki and had a buzz cut of brown hair.

"I always knew that Himuro girl would turn into a tall drink of water." Said another boy, this one the same height as Tatsuki, but with messy black hair.

Atsushi's brows furrowed hard.

"I wonder if she bucks as hard as a bronco. She's got the legs of one." Laughed the third; The one in the middle.

Atsushi's throat rumbled.

"Please leave me alone, Shirō." Tatsuki glared, her own brows furrowed hard as she stared down the boy in the center of the trio.

"You know I've had my eye on you for a while now right? Good farm girl like you is best barefoot and in the kitchen." The same boy said.

Atsushi's teeth bared as he started for the group, having heard more than enough to spike his temper which he usually kept in a comatose state with the constant intake of sweets. Since being on his uncle's farm, his sweets intake had been halved unless Tatsuki baked something, and as such, his temper was waking up from its coma.

"Go away, Shirō. You're an awful person and I don't wanna have anything to do with you." Tatsuki glared with her right eye as her long, swept bangs kept her left covered.

"D'aw... Don't be like that, Baby. I can be gentle just before I'm rough." The middle boy laughed as he tried reaching up for Tatsuki's chin.

Tatsuki yanked her head away from his approaching hand, where her eyes flicked up to see whom had come to stand behind them. With the morning sun at his back, his features were cast in shadow and it painted a long river of gray shadow along the ground that looked more like it was being cast by a tree.

"Leave her alone." Said the dark shadow from behind them, his voice low and rumbling.

"Blow off, first year. We're busy." Said the middle boy without even taking his eyes off of Tatsuki.

However, the dark shadow didn't budge a single inch.

"Fucking first years... Always trying to play the hero." Said another boy; The one with the buzzed cut.

"I said leave her alone, or are you hard of hearing." Said the looming shadow with a laced growl underneath each word.

"I'd say the same of you since you aren't stepping off." Said the boy in the middle, again, not taking his eyes off Tatsuki whom had begun to lightly smile.

With a hard knuckle, the looming shadow thunked it down on top of Shirō's head, making him instantly cringe and press a hand into the spot, but when he wheeled around to face off with the stubborn first year, as did his two friends, they instantly froze as they came to stare at a broad chest.

Then their eyes drifted up.

"Leave." Atsushi growled, staring down at them with his threatening look set hard in his violet eyes.

"What... the hell?" Breathed out the boy with black messy hair.

Atsushi's brows drew down more, "Go away. She doesn't wanna talk to you." He said lowly and with a long huff of air coming out of his nose.

"And why the fuck would she wanna talk to you?" Shirō growled up at him, standing his ground against the giant in front of him.

"Because he's a sweetheart, but I wouldn't expect you to understand." Tatsuki chimed in, taking the opportunity to step around the boys and stand by Atsushi's side where she threaded her arm around his.

All three boys glared.

"He's new blood... He ain't from any of the farm families around here. Where the hell you come from?" Shirō sneered up, his brow still furrowed down over his yellow eyes.

"Akita." Atsushi said flatly and still with his furious glare.

"City boy? You playing around with city trash, Tatsuki?" Said the boy on the right as he shifted his sneer towards her as if she had offended all three of them.

"He's Hiroshi's nephew." Tatsuki said plainly.

"Grouchy Hiroshi?... That crotchety old man has a nephew?" The left boy reeled with wide open blue eyes.

"Say one more thing about my uncle and I'll crush you flat." Atsushi hissed, drawing in a huge breath that made his chest even fuller than it already was.

"What're you gonna do about it?" Shirō fired back.

Atsushi pursed his lips together as he dropped his bag to his feet and raised his hand, his fingers spread wide as he planted it right down on the boy's head where he gripped his skull like a basketball. His hand alone was as big as the other boy's head and it only took a fraction of his strength to throw him back just enough where he flopped back onto his rump with eyes wide of shock.

"Talk to her again, and you'll have me to deal with. Am I clear?" Atsushi hissed as he flicked his eyes over to meet the other two boys whom gulped once they came under the furious violet gaze.

The two boys nodded before swooping down and hoisting their leader up to his feet, where he glared another moment as if he was getting the last word before walking off with a scoff. Atsushi and Tatsuki just watched them go, but as soon as they stepped through the doors of the school, Tatsuki heavily sighed with relief that snapped Atsushi free from his temper.

"I don't like him." Atsushi grumbled, staring another moment before bending over and picking up his bag.

"Neither do I. He only got that way after his family's farm went corporate." Tatsuki said, still clinging to Atsushi's arm as she flipped her long bangs over her left eye.

"Huh?... He's the family that rents Uncle Hiroshi's land?" Atsushi asked, his glare softening as he looked down at her.

Tatsuki nodded, "Yeah... You'll learn real fast that everything is interconnected out here. Shirō's family is the one who got bought out by a corporate company, but left them in charge to meet the quotas. To meet those quotas, his family started buying up the smaller farms surrounding theirs to get the land. When people started refusing their offers, they offered to rent the land from those who couldn't till it themselves. Your uncle needed the money, so he agreed." Tatsuki said, her dark gray eyes sad as she looked up at him.

Atsushi's lips parted, "That doesn't sound good."

"It's not... His family got greedy and if a farm's land doesn't meet standards, they lower the payment until the family who's land they're renting is desperate. They offer to buy and by then, because they're desperate, the families agree." She said, releasing a long sigh as she clung even tighter to his arm.

"Uncle Hiroshi-"

"He's protected though. Some farm families like ours joined together and we stand against Shirō's family just fine. My dad... He's a agricultural lawyer and drafted the contract between your uncle and Shirō's family. They can't get his farm." Tatsuki said, having cut him off with the need for her to explain.

"Good." He said dully as he rubbed the back of his hair.

Realizing that she was still clinging to his arm, Tatsuki jerked back, taking her arm back from around his as her cheeks began to burn with a blush. She hid her face in her bag that she started to cling to her chest and refused to look up at him, missing his own soft coloring of crimson in his cheeks that was luckily mostly hidden because of his hair that hung loose to his shoulders.

"Um... I-I'm sorry, Atsushi. I-I didn't mean to cling like that." Tatsuki stuttered out, shying into her own shoulders as the five minute bell rang to get the students to start heading towards class.

Atsushi just grumbled as he looked away from her and started for the doors with her by his side.

"It's okay... If it helps keep him from bugging you, I don't have a problem with it." He said, releasing a long sigh to puff the lock of hair that hung down his nose.

Tatsuki lightly smiled up at him as he opened the door for her to step through before he followed. Students were going in every direction as they headed for their classes and with the nerves of going to a new school in a new place, they were eased when he had found out that he and Tatsuki were in the same class. They stepped into their classroom only to fall under a few stunned gazes, as Atsushi had to duck just to get through the door. It was more of the same for him, but he ignored it as both headed for the back of the classroom and found a pair of seats next to each other where they settled in for their first day as high school students.

The class was pretty plain, generic even as their teacher rumbled on through introductions, having each student stand and announce their names and which clubs they wanted to join at the end of the day. Atsushi found out that it was required that he do so, but wanting to stick to his guns about not playing basketball anymore, and having no other friends, he followed Tatsuki and had signed up for the baking club.

The first half of the day droned on with more introductions to what to expect throughout their year, what exams to watch out for and the work they expected to get during from the class. They had even had enough time to start some lessons, which afforded Atsushi a chance to relax because he was already proficient at it; Physics.

Finally, lunch time rolled around and he and Tatsuki headed for the cafeteria, where he found the food to be top notch and smelt fresh and warm. It was a chicken curry lunch that day and to his utter delight, it had all been prepared with ingredients that the school grew and cultivated themselves. The meat came from the neighboring farm, the herbs from the horticultural club and the only thing trucked in was the rice, which didn't have to go all that far. It was so fresh and so good that the entire lunch, Atsushi just sat with a gentle smile on his face while he and Tatsuki ate in their companionable silence.

However, just as he raised his chopsticks to take another bite, a hand came down on the back of his head, but having highly tuned reflexes that had been honed because of his time in middle school basketball, he dropped his chopsticks onto his plate and slammed both hands down onto the table, thus stopping his face from getting smashed into his own food.

Pushing his chair back hard that bumped into whomever stood behind him, Atsushi rose to his full height, drawing ever set of eyeballs straight to him as he turned around and glared down at the very boy whom he had just faced off with that morning, and his two brain dead friends.

"What do you want?" Atsushi asked dully, his eyes narrow as he glared down.

"Shirō?... What're you doing? Leave him alone." One of his friends hissed in a hushed whisper, standing a ways back so not to get involved too much.

"He needs to know who runs this town." Shirō said sharply, never once taking his eyes off the much taller, much wider and thicker boy.

"I'm not looking to replace you, but if you keep at it, you won't like the outcome." Atsushi said lowly, taking in slow and steady breaths so his temper was reined in.

"So long as you know that I'm in charge, we won't have an issue. Just stay away from Tatsuya if you know what's good for you." Shirō said through clenched teeth as he jammed a finger into Atsushi's chest with precisely zero give.

"I'll go wherever I like and if Muro-Chin wants to be near me, than I won't stop her. She can do whatever she wants. It's not up to me." Atsushi said, his voice firm.

"We'll see about that. Enjoy your lunch, City Trash."

As Shirō and his mortified friends left, Atsushi fumed at the backs of their heads, not even flinching when Shirō looked back over his shoulder with a grin and a wink. His temper was starting to heat up as his breathing increased, but when he felt a soft hand resting on his arm, he calmed and looked away from the boy whom disappeared through the back of the cafeteria.

"He's not worth it, Atsushi." Tatsuki said quietly, her eyes saddened as she took her hand away from his arm.

"Why does he want me to stay away from you?" Atsushi asked, releasing a long breath to seal away his temper.

Tatsuki sighed, "Because he thinks he can win me like a prize if he can convince my father to arrange a marriage, but my father has other ideas." She sat down into the chair beside his, having abandoned her half eaten lunch.

Atsushi's brows furrowed as he sat, "Other ideas?... What do you mean?" He asked, his squared shoulders dropping down as he hunched over.

He couldn't ignore the soft glistening in her eyes, how they shimmered from the lights over their heads and when it made his heart ache at seeing her like that, his own eyes softened as he watched her fidget with her fingers.

"My father wants me to follow in his footsteps. He wants me to go to a law prep school in Tokyo, but he's respecting my mom's wishes that I stay here and make my career choice myself. Shirō wants me because if he and I were together, it would negate the contracts my dad drafted due to conflict of interest." Tatsuki said in just above a whisper as a single tear fell from her exposed eye.

Atsushi sat up straighter, "M-Muro-Chin-" He tried to say something, but he genuinely didn't know what to say as more light tears fell down her cheeks.

Hearing her softly sniffle, Atsushi's anger started to rise again, but it wasn't threatening to lash out. It was just enough to make him angry with the boy from a distance, but seeing her tears, seeing her pale cheeks streaked with their trails, he had to do something to ease her internal pain.

With a soft sigh, he hesitated a moment, but holding his breath, he raised a curled knuckle and swiped away a tear that earned him her gaze. She shied into her shoulders again while she avoided his violet eyes, but her right one, the only visible one, kept flicking over to catch glimpses of him.

"I'm sorry, Atsushi. You don't need to hear my problems." She said softly as she dried her eyes and face before making to stand.

However, as she got to her feet, her hand was captured in one so large, that it had to hold her hand with just his fingers.

"Your problems aren't just yours, Muro-Chin. I'm here because I stood up against my dad too. He wants me to play for Yōsen High back in Akita and I don't want to and instead of accepting it, he kicked me out. He doesn't even want me home. This is the only place I have left, Muro-Chin." He said, his voice neutral and dull as he let go of her hand and looked down to hide the color of his cheeks.

"A-Atsushi... I-I... You're more than welcome to stay for as long as you'd like. You may not see it, but you fit pretty well here." Tatsuki said, managing to produce a soft smile and one that he had seen on more than one occasion.

Atsushi just returned her barely there smile, staying perfectly still as she reached out and brushed a lock of his hair behind his ear where her fingers waited that last little second before disappearing.

"I'll see you in class." She said before she turned and left him sitting there with their forgotten meals.

His shoulders slumped forward as he watched her go, how she picked up her pace until she was just shy of jogging as she stepped out of the cafeteria. He didn't like how she looked when she left, as that shininess was still in her eyes and he was finding that he didn't like it. He didn't like seeing her sad, didn't like the way she couldn't hold eye contact and didn't like how she looked without a smile on. It had been a little over a month since arriving at his uncle's farm and ever since meeting her, he found himself smiling more.

She was his friend.

With a sigh, Atsushi just scrubbed his face before returning to his lunch and finishing off both his and hers before returning the trays and heading back to class. He walked down the halls with his hands stuffed into his pockets, listening to the hushed murmurs of the behemoth of a boy facing off against the local rich kid and resident bully. He didn't even bother to look up from the floor which resulted in banging his head against the top of the door frame. He ignored the chuckles as he rubbed his head and went back to his seat, sitting down without a word, or look at anyone, but when the doorbell rang class back into season, Tatsuki had yet to return. He started to get anxious the longer time went on without her in class, but an hour after lunch, she walked in quietly and slipped into her seat while the teacher's back was turned. He wanted to asked her where she had gone, but seeing the cooling tint to her cheeks, he had a rough idea. She had gone to cry.

Instead of saying anything, he just let the day drag on until class finally ended and with the first day of school came the first meetings of clubs, but it had just been a day of introductions. No baking actually went on, which he was a bit heartbroken over since he hadn't had anything sweet for the whole day, but at least he was prepared with his alternative that he quietly clacked against his teeth. It was soon time to go home where he and Tatsuki merely said goodbye and went their separate ways.

The bus ride home, he never said a word, never looked away from the window from the evening sky and when he got off the bus and started the lengthy walk down his uncle's driveway, he never looked up from the ground. His mind kept replaying what had happened with that Shirō kid, how he sneered, how he eyeballed Tatsuki and how his friends just followed him around like lost puppies. The more he thought about it, the more angry he got, but instead of dwelling on it too much, he shifted gears and focused on helping his uncle with finishing up the day's chores.

Their evening theirs, they ate supper with barely a word said while Atsushi turned out the little bit of homework he had before he headed upstairs to shower and go to bed. He was tired; Tired of thinking, tired of all the physical labor and just plain tired. Half the time he couldn't stop yawning, and he had figured that after a month, he'd be used to it. That didn't turn out to be the case and as he got into his pajamas, consisting of a plain t-shirt and shorts, he laid down to get some sleep.

Or so he thought.

"Oi!... Get your ass up and get down to the barn!"

His door bursting open like someone had kicked it, Atsushi sat bolt upright with his violet eyes wide open from shock. He had been sleeping, completely drowning in dreamland when his uncle's voice boomed through his door and when he rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock on his nightstand, he flatly glared at the man.

"It's 1:30 in the morning, Uncle Hiroshi! What unholy level of hell is this?" Atsushi whined as he tried to stifle a yawn, but failed to keep it from releasing from the hinge of his jaw.

"There's no time! Get dressed and get your ass in the barn! It's Gretchen!" His uncle snapped before turning to leave.

That woke Atsushi up.

"Gretchen? What's wrong with her?" Atsushi called after the man, shooting out of bed and hopping on one foot as he struggled to pull pants on.

"She's in trouble! Just hurry it up! I already called Tatsuki!" His uncle's voice came from down the hall.

Pursing his lips together as he growled to himself, Atsushi pulled his pants on and snatched his hoodie from the back of his desk chair before sprinting downstairs and putting on his work boots that his uncle had bought him only a week ago. The air was chilled, but it didn't slow him down as he threaded his arms through his sweatshirt and headed straight for the open barn whose interior light was on.

The closer he got, the more he heard a rather distressed mooing coming from inside, and as he rounded the corner, he stopped as his eyes set on the first paddock on the right. Gretchen was breathing heavily, mooing with pain and had been tied to a post to keep her still. His uncle was standing behind her with plastic gloves on that traveled the whole length of his arms, but his brow was crinkled and his forehead was glistening with the first appearances of sweat.

"Come here, Kid." His uncle said firmly without even looking up from the cow's rump.

Atsushi gulped, but hurried over, only to freeze with held breath at what his eyes laid upon. His uncle was holding a tiny little head, a baby cow, but only half its little nose was free of its mother's womb. Its little nostrils flared and gargled as the tiny baby struggled to breath and blood and fluid streamed down Gretchen's legs from the birth, but no more progress was being made. The little calf wasn't budging despite its mother's clear attempts to move things along.

"W-What's wrong? Baby isn't moving." Atsushi said, forcing himself to breathe so the painful and rapid thumping of his heart didn't become too strong.

"I don't know. That's why I called Tatsuki, but I'm starting to think the little guy's stuck." Hiroshi said, still holding the calf's head so his nose didn't slip back into its mother.

"W-What can I do?" Atsushi asked, nervously biting his bottom lip with uncertainty.

"Hold the calf's head just like I'm doing. I'm gonna go get some towels and some rope." Hiroshi said as he took a step aside.

Atsushi stiffened, "Uh... Okay. Where are the gloves like you have?"

"Don't have anymore! Suck it up and do it!" Hiroshi snapped.

He desperately wanted to protest, positively wanted to refuse, but with more distressed moos from Gretchen, he couldn't stomach hearing her pain. He wanted to help her, wanted to help her small little calf, so sucking in a stiff breath, he rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and slipped his hands in to replace his uncle's.

He tried not to cringe at the feel, but it was all hot, wet and slimy against his fingers. He couldn't look, opting to just stare up, but he could feel the small calf trying to struggle and breathe. Its small head fit in a single hand and he cradled it as delicately as he thought he could. More labored breaths reached his ears, but when a small, tiny little squeak followed, he found himself suddenly looking.

The small calf was squeaking for help, noticeably struggling with its tongue lolling out of its mouth. The tiny thing was wanting out, to be free, born, but no amount of struggling and causing its mother more distress was helping. Gretchen was trying to birth her calf, but with not a single inch gained, Atsushi was starting to wonder if anything could be done.

"Come on, Muro-Chin... Baby needs your help." Atsushi grumbled to himself, but his plea was answered when the skidding stop of tires drew his attention.

He watched the opened barn door, listening as a car door opened and slammed shut. He heard whomever had arrived run and only a breath later, Tatsuki darted around the corner and tore off her jacket.

"Atsushi! Let me see." Tatsuki said, her face determined as she rushed into the paddock.

"Baby's in trouble." He said, his expression worried as he took a side step, but kept his hands in place to continue cradling the calf's head.

"Baby's stuck. Stay put." Tatsuki said, instantly knowing what was wrong with a single glance.

All Atsushi did was watch her as she stepped up to Gretchen's head and softly pet the labored cow, easing her distress for a single moment before sidestepping to her swollen belly. She ran her hands down her side, pressing in hard enough to feel the baby inside and her face was so determined, so set in its expression that he doubt it would ever ease.

"Y-You know what to do, Muro-Chin?" Atsushi asked, still watching her and with another gulp to settle his nerves.

Tatsuki nodded, "Yes... I help birth calves all the time. We've gotta hurry though, or Baby dies."

Atsushi's eyes shot open wide at her words as his heart seemed to stop in his chest. He didn't want Gretchen's calf to die, as over the last month, he had felt that very calf whose head he held move and shift inside its mother's womb. He was kind of attached to the little thing and with the knowledge that its life was truly in danger, he knew they needed to work and work fast.

"I think I got it... Its leg is stuck. It might be wrapped up the umbilical cord though, which means, if it is, we can't just pull." Tatsuki said before stepping out of the paddock.

Atsushi blew out a nervous breath, "So what do we do?" He asked, being tall enough to watch her go to the hose and rinse off her hands and arms all the way up to her shoulders.

"We have to go in." Tatsuki said, not even drying off her bare arms before rushing back to the paddock.

"Go in! Like... In in?" Atsushi reeled as Tatsuki nudged him a step over to position herself directly behind the labored cow.

His question was soon answered as she flattened her hand and began to slip it passed the tiny calf's head, diving deeper and deeper with the water serving as a lubricant to provide some minuscule amount of comfort for the mother. She mooed even louder, but the poor girl remained patient as Tatsuki's arm dove passed the elbow and kept going.

All Atsushi could do was watch as Tatsuki reached inside Gretchen's womb all the way up to just shy of her shoulder. Her head was craned up and facing towards him so he could see her lips pursed together, but the more precious seconds that ticked by, the more her browline furrowed and her teeth grit together.

"Grr-... I can't reach." She growled, taking another second to try, but ultimately withdrawing her arm with no success.

"Now what?" Atsushi asked, his eyes conveying his worry as he continued cradling the calf's head in a single hand.

Tatsuki pursed her lips together once more, but when her dark gray eyes set on his arms and traveled all the way up to his shoulder, her eyes widened with glimmers of hope.

"Take your hoodie off." Tatsuki said, slipping her hands over his to replace them in cradling the calf's head.

Atsushi gulped, "W-W-What?"

"Do it!"

With her sudden snap, Atsushi tried to hesitate touching his hoodie with his slime covered hands, but it was unavoidable. He unzipped it and took it off, tossing it over the top of the paddock wall before stepping out to wash his arms. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and doing the same thing he had seen her do, he washed his arms and left them wet as he returned to her side directly behind the mooing cow.

"Go nice and easy and angle down. Just follow the calf's body." Tatsuki said flatly, her thumbs gently stroking the calf's head that rested in her hands.

With another gulp, Atsushi nodded, trying not to cringe as he flattened his hand and began to slide it inside, following the line of the calf's body. It was so hot that it felt like he was standing next to a fire and keeping his hand on the calf's body, he dove his entire arm all the way up to his shoulder. He was hunched over, his heart hammering and his breath coming in a mild pant, but he kept his eyes locked with hers simply for a distraction that he was arm deep in the womb of a pregnant cow. It was incredibly odd, even wrong feeling, but with her guidance, he proceeded to feel around.

"It's firm... Natural skin can tell the difference between a leg and the umbilical cord. Just feel for it." Tatsuki said lowly, her breath drifting over his face with only an inch between the ends of their noses.

Atsushi nodded, kept staring as he felt around, feeling the wet slime covered fur of the calf and the heated walls of the cramped womb. It was disgusting, but that's when his fingers grazed over something round, feeling just like the womb's walls, yet was curled tightly around one of the calf's legs.

"I-I... I found it." Atsushi said, trying not to yelp and scare the cow whom, despite being in great pain, was still capable of kicking a cloven hoof.

"Ease Baby free, then we pull." Tatsuki said quietly, her eyes never wavering from his.

Atsushi nodded as he drew in a deep breath, his fingers working to unravel the cord from the calf's leg and despite not wanting to play anymore, he silently thanked basketball for giving his hand the dexterity to function on its own.

"I think I got it." He said, taking one last second to make sure before slowly withdrawing his arm.

The moment his arm was free, Tatsuki slid in front of him, still grasping the calf's head and began to pull, pressing back into him where his own hands grasped her wrists to help. They pulled every time the labored cow's muscles worked to push the calf out and slowly, surely, the calf began to come free.

"Oh my god!... Baby's coming, Atsushi... Keep pulling!" Tatsuki smiled big, stepping back further into his huge form which pushed him back in the process.

Gritting his teeth together, Atsushi kept his strength in check, still grasping her wrists as they pulled. The calf's head was free where its neck soon followed, and when its front legs dangled free, they grabbed them and pulled more. Inch, by inch, by inch, the calf emerged, the white patches of its fur tinged yellow as if someone had colored it with a highlighter from the distress. He had thought with all the fluid, that the calf coming free would be fast, but under her guidance, he quickly learned that that wasn't the case. They timed their pulls with the mother's pushes, but when the calf's rump popped free with what almost sounded like a literal pop, the sudden change in pace sent them off balance and both fell back.

Atsushi dropped onto his backside, planting his soaked arm into the straw to keep from falling onto his back with Tatsuki falling into his front. He wrapped his other arm around her in an attempt to catch her, but that's when his violet eyes set wide on what laid in her lap.

The baby calf, with eyes big and open, was free, resting and covered in birth with its little head cradled in her lap. The little thing was breathing and as she peeled away the thin membrane that still clung to the tiny beast, he realized what they had done; They had helped in birthing a cow.

"We did it... Baby's okay." Tatsuki said after several moments, just catching her breath before looking over to see his eyes peaking over her shoulder.

"Baby-" he breathed out, "So small." Atsushi said, starting to softly smile as he released his arm from around her to drift a knuckle softly over the calf's head.

"Brand new to this world. You saved his life, Atsushi. He would have died if it wasn't for you." She said, just settling back against Atsushi's chest, not wanting to move in favor of letting the calf rest and calm down from the ordeal.

"Really?" He asked, setting his chin down on her shoulder as he just watched the calf and continued to softly pet the small thing.

Tatsuki nodded, "Mmhmm... You should name him."

When she looked over to meet his gaze, her breath stopped as she realized just how close they where and how they were sitting. She was suddenly very aware of the weight of his head on her shoulder, the feel of his chest against her back and the light sparkle in his violet eyes that bore into hers. She immediately looked away and shied into her available shoulder and found herself thankful that her long raven hair was somewhat hiding her blush, but when dry, warm fingers grazed over her cheek, brushing her hair aside, she flinched.

"I-I'm sorry... I-I... I thought you were crying again and wanted to make sure you were okay." Atsushi said softly as he took his hand away so she wouldn't flinch again.

Tatsuki shook her head, "It's okay, Atsushi... I'm fine. If anything, I'm happy the calf's okay." She said with a half truth.

"Me too." He said.

Tatsuki blew out a nervous breath, but still wanting the calf to rest, she didn't move from her spot leaning back against his chest and between his legs. She just breathed the awkward away and decided to return to the task of naming the small animal, if at all to distract her some more.

"What're you gonna name him?" She asked, managing to look at him and this time without her blush.

"Um-" he hummed, "Oh!... Maiubo." Atsushi smiled dully at her.

"Maiubo?... Like the candy?" Tatsuki lowly chuckled.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... Because she's sweet."

"He." Tatsuki breathed out softly.

The gentle smile that followed his words made her cheeks color once again, but this time, she didn't hide. His eyes were soft as they looked at her, gazed at her with kindness and it made her stomach flutter with that warm flip that sent a wave of flushing heat radiating throughout her chest. She couldn't stop her lips from tugging up into a smile and when the small calf named Maiubo squeaked and lifted his little head on his own, their smiles reached their eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Fall had firmly set in. Back in Akita, fall wasn't really anything to write home about. A few trees here and there would turn color and shed their leaves, but one would normally miss it if they didn't go to the park to see the colors.

The countryside on the other hand, was vastly different, as everywhere Atsushi looked, the landscape was gold, red and brown. It was truly beautiful and with the added colors of the bright blue sky, the world outside the school window was more like a painting than reality.

Several weeks had passed since little Maiubo was born that night, now happily trotting around the pasture with his mother without a care in the world. He was still so small, but between Tatsuki and Atsushi, they weren't sure who spoiled the little calf more. It had almost turned into a competition to see whom could spoil the small cow more on the days Tatsuki came over to help out. It had been a pretty enjoyable few weeks that were even void of encounters with Shirō and with the school day having already gone by, Atsushi and Tatsuki sat in their club room to prepare for a very different kind of event.

The Autumn School Festival.

"Okay everyone! As I'm sure you're all aware, the Autumn School Festival is next week, and since we're the baking club, we have one of the most popular booths! With that in mind, I wanna hear some ideas on what all we should sell, so lets hear them!" The club leader squealed with her obvious excitement; A bouncing and bubbly redhead with a long ponytail and bright, nearly neon orange eyes.

"Cupcakes!" Offered another girl.

"Pie?"

"Cookies!"

"Pastries!"

Several ideas were getting tossed out, all of which were making Atsushi's stomach rumble with want. For the last few weeks, the baking club had actually been making things, most of which was baked morsels of deliciousness and perfection that were crafted by Tatsuki's slender hands. Of course, he was always the first to get to try her marvelous creations, but for the last week, or so, he had started to help.

"All are wonderful ideas! Lets do them all! We'll spend today getting some recipes together while Amaya and I start designing our booth! I look forward to the results!"

While the bubbly redhead and the other girl with short black hair retreated to their corner, the others broke off to search for the perfect recipe from a pile of cookbooks and web searches, but for Tatsuki and Atsushi, they sat at the counter with a piece of paper and a pen. Neither had any plan of finding an already existing recipe, but rather, they were going to craft their own.

"Hmm-... Well, I guess we should start with what kind of baking we wanna do." Tatsuki hummed out loud, tapping the end of her pen against her chin.

"What about cake? No one said cake." Atsushi said, leaning a heavy elbow onto the counter to rest his chin in his hand.

"I don't see why not, but we'll need to make several of them. Cake is harder to make in bulk than cupcakes." Tatsuki said as she looked over at him.

"Well, than cupcakes then. Those strawberry ones you make are really good." Atsushi said, puffing out a blow of air to move the thick lock hanging down his nose.

Tatsuki smiled, "Well, thank you, but I always make those. Lets come up with something else." She returned to tapping her chin with the end of her pen.

Atsushi shrugged, "Something chocolate."

"Ooo-... Good idea. Chocolate cupcakes?" Tatsuki said, softly chuckling at the dreamy look that began to bubble in his eyes.

"With cream cheese frosting." Atsushi added with their gazes locked on each other.

"But there needs to be something more... Something special." Tatsuki said quietly as she bit her bottom lip.

"Small chocolates on top?" Atsushi offered.

Tatsuki shook her head, "Too ordinary."

"Sprinkles?"

"Too boring." Tatsuki's brows furrowed.

Atsushi's throat grumbled behind his lips as his browline matched hers, both racking their brains for the perfect idea. The baking club was revered, adored even, for their treats and confections that made those that consumed them want more. As first years, it was a lot to bear on their shoulders, but as their eyes flicked over to another pair, carving into a melon that instantly spilled juice onto the counter, their eyes lit up with an idea.

"Chocolate cream cheese lava cake!" They both yelped with their eyes glued on each other from their joint realization.

Tatsuki immediately began to write down what they would need, but since their club room was in the school kitchen, both highly doubted that the ingredients she was looking for would be there. Sure, there were eggs, sugar, butter and flour, but chocolate, cream cheese and the special tops she wanted most certainly wouldn't be. Both very much wanted to try it out and without very much convincing of the head of the club, they were out the door and headed for the one place that would have everything.

Tatsuki's house.

With the countryside being so widespread, and students coming in from nearly twenty miles away, the school employed several shuttles to run after school students home since many families were busy tending to their farms. They climbed on one such shuttle, a small bus, and found seats in the back before it started off. All Tatsuki had to do was give the driver her address and they were off, where both just sat, shoulder to shoulder, in the seat and looked over their recipe.

Her knowledge was extensive, even more vast than his list of snacks he's tried, and that was a damn impressive list. They tweaked the cream cheese to a cream cheese whip to make it fluffy, added those chocolate sprinkles to add color and decided on the perfect top to crown their delectable little treats in the form of small lengths of pirouettes. His mouth was watering the more they worked, and after only a short bit, the bus slowed and delivered them to their destination.

The Himuro dairy farm was a large farm in comparison to his uncle's, as it boasted a small herd of dairy cows of around a hundred. Everything was ultra clean, shining gold in the fading light of the evening and that telltale aroma of cow wafted up from the large barn shelters in the back. The home itself was noticeably larger than his uncle's, with a wrap around porch so huge that it reached the second story for a two tiered covered space where someone could find a place to just sit and relax. The front door was wide, being a duel set the were even mostly tall enough for Atsushi to step through.

He followed Tatsuki into the house where he toed off his shoes and dropped his bag off before padding into the kitchen with her, all while his tongue fiddled and dragged over his teeth since he had fallen into the habit again without readily available snacks to get his hands on. Their ceilings were higher and despite still having to duck under the doors, albeit less, he wasn't feeling claustrophobic like he sometimes got at home. The kitchen was larger as well, having three walls worth of cabinets and a fridge and freezer set up that was as wide as the double wide doors he had entered the house through. Everything was neat and tidy and despite the odor outside, inside smelt of cinnamon and spices.

"Mmm-... It smells good in here." Atsushi mumbled out, rolling up his cardigan's sleeves to his elbows while Tatsuki slipped on her apron.

"My mom likes burning candles. It's the cinnamon spice one over there." She smiled, motioning with her head as she tied the apron around herself.

"I like it." Atsushi smiled with another long drag of his tongue that made a tiny clack against the backs of his teeth.

The house empty, they began to gather the ingredients Tatsuki had written down. She gathered the cold things from the fridge, while he stepped into the walk-in pantry, easily finding the dry items. It didn't take them long before a portion of the counter was taken up with the things they needed, and as Tatsuki tapped in the desired temperature on the oven, they set to work.

While Tatsuki worked the more complicated segment of the recipe, Atsushi measured out the dry ingredients and put them together into a bowl. He cracked in an egg and a little oil before whisking it all together into a smooth batter, scraping the sides with a flat scraper to make sure nothing was left behind. He kept whisking it all before setting the paper cups into the muffin pan and just as Tatsuki finished with the cream cheese whipped filling, he held the frosting bag open so she could spoon it all inside.

"Alright!... Fill the cups three-quarters of the way, and I'll come in behind you and put the filling in." Tatsuki said, smiling as Atsushi held another frosting bag open to put the chocolate cake mix inside.

With just his nod, Atsushi spun the bag to clamp it closed before squeezing the target amount into the cups. His large hands worked perfectly to squeeze the batter out and by the time each cup was filled, there was so little left in the bag that he got to toss it into the trash.

"Well done, Atsushi... Oh!... You have some on your finger." Tatsuki said as she set her freshly emptied bag down on the counter to slip the cupcakes into the oven.

"Eh?... Freebies?" Atsushi smiled.

He looked down at his hands and sure enough, there were several spots of chocolate batter splattered and smeared all over his hands and without a second thought, he lapped up a smear to relish in the smooth chocolate taste against his constantly busy tongue.

"Atsushi!... There's egg in there!" Tatsuki yelped before snatching his hand away from his mouth to begin wiping away the mess with her apron.

"But it tastes good." Atsushi pouted, his soul breaking with every splotch of chocolate that was lost to the fabric of her apron.

"Well, yeah, but it needs to bake first you big dork." Tatsuki chuckled with a brief glance up at him.

Atsushi's brows lightly furrowed at the oddly cute way she had called him a dork, but it was then that he saw a smear of the whipped cream cheese filling on her finger. His eyes twinkled at it and despite his attempts to taste it before she put it into the chocolate batter, she always smacked his hand away. He was near desperate to try it, would do anything to feel its sweet taste against his tongue and before he knew what he was doing, he had grasped her hand and raised that very finger to wrap his lips around it.

The moment the light, airy flavor hit his tongue, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as his tongue swirled around her finger to claim the filling for himself, completely forgetting the usual toy that he had found himself playing with more and more frequently in his oral habit. It was pure sweetness that danced on his tongue like a ballet dancer, fluid and precise, but it wasn't so strong that it instantly sapped all his energy. It was just enough to make him want more, make him salivate for it, but when he realized what his tongue and lips were doing, all 6'10 of him went rigid, his breath caught in his throat and his eyes snapped wide.

Feeling his jaw start to clatter with nerves, he pulled her finger from his mouth as his eyes focused on the red hot and burning blush covering all of Tatsuki's face. Her visible eye was as wide as it could go and her lips were agape with an airless gasp, completely glued on her finger pulling out from between his lips. She was frozen solid, in complete shock and when it finally came free without even a pop and with its tip pressing against his slightly puckered lips, it didn't make it any better.

"U-Uh... D-Did it... taste g-good?" Tatsuki stuttered out, finally sucking in a breath when her lungs screamed for it, but she couldn't get herself to take her hand away from his grasp.

Atsushi's tongue, on its own accord, slicked over his lips as he nodded.

Tatsuki gulped, "G-Good... I-I'm glad." She said almost too lowly for even her to hear.

Atsushi's heart was far too close to jumping out of his chest, beating far too fast for it to be comfortable, but no matter how much his mind was screaming at him to let go of her hand, he couldn't loosen his hold. All he could do was bring it closer to his chest until her palm pressed down over his heart so she could feel it, or see it. He was certain it was legitimately visible.

Suddenly, the beeping of the oven snapped both from their trance of falling into the others eyes, jolting both back to the task at hand as Tatsuki hesitated that last second before turning to get the test cupcakes out of the oven. He hadn't realized that the kitchen had taken on the smell of warmed chocolate, light and warm, and it smelt so good that his mouth started to salivate, but instead of that subtle sweetness, there was a tinge of salt left over from her finger on the hardness of metal.

He gulped to help clear his head, closed his eyes to rid his brain of one of his senses to help mitigate the damage, but he couldn't ignore that he had acted without thinking. He felt stupid, like a complete idiot and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. He clenched them to try and regain control, but even that wasn't working like he had hoped. All he could manage with any degree of skill was stare at the back of her head and for some reason, it made him angry.

"Muro-Chin-" Atsushi breathed out, but she didn't acknowledge him at all as she set the fresh cupcakes down on the stove top.

Atsushi was suddenly fuming, heated with rage that she wouldn't turn around and in a single giant step, he was standing behind her and had trapped her between his long arms with his hands firmly pressed down onto the counter.

"Please look at me." Atsushi said quietly, his voice disconnected from the anger boiling in his chest.

Tatsuki didn't turn around as she slipped off the oven mitts and set them down on the counter, hiding her hands from him as she held them close to her chest so he couldn't see, but with an added ten inches on her, he saw anyways.

They were shaking.

"I'm sorry." He said, taking in steady breaths that were working to ebb his unwarranted anger.

With a slowly released breath, Tatsuki finally turned around and looked up at him with slightly shaky eyes and her hands still clutched and guarded against her chest. Every muscle attached to her 6' foot framework was twitching, quivering, but it was too light for her to be certain it wasn't just her imagination. His violet eyes were drawn down, almost shameful and the way he was taking in ultra slow breaths told her that he was struggling to stay calm.

For two months, they had spent so much time together, whether it be at school, or at his uncle's farm, that being apart felt odd. Being in each others company was easy, calming even, and in those two months, she was finding that her best times were had when they were together.

"It's okay, Atsushi. I um-" she swallowed, "I was just caught off guard is all." She said softly, beginning to breathe more steadily as she reached out to place her shaky hand over his heart once more.

"I... wasn't thinking." Atsushi said, lightly gulping as his grip on the counter's edges tightened to make the tips of his fingers white.

"It's fine... Really." She said, never once looking away from his gaze as she leaned a bit closer to him.

Atsushi sucked in a quiet breath as the feel of her pressed into him returned, willing an arm to wrap itself around her waist to keep her there. She looked up at him with soft eyes, alluring even, and at the feel of her modest chest squishing into his only served to make his heart hum even more like the buzz of a hummingbird. It was starting to give him a headache from the rushing of his blood through his veins, and when her other hand, soft and gentle, reached up to cup his jaw, it suddenly didn't matter anymore.

His eyes closing halfway, Atsushi's head began to drop down, coming closer and closer to hers that was reaching up to greet him. He didn't need to see both her eyes to know, as one was enough for him to see that they were soft and inviting. Her lips were slightly parted, airless from holding her breath and when his eyes fully closed, the heat from her lips pulsed over his like warm waves.

"Tatsuya!... Are you home!"

The sudden voice jolted them both, snapping their eyes open as Atsushi stood up straight and stepped away from her the moment her father stepped around the corner and into the kitchen.

"Ah... There you are... Hello, Atsushi." Her father said; A tall, gruff looking man with tiny wrinkles next to his eyes and business like graying hair that was slicked back.

Atsushi just nodded and gulped.

"Hey, Dad... Everything alright?" Tatsuki asked, drawing in a deep breath as she turned back around to face the counter to examine the tray of cooling cupcakes.

"Mostly... I have a favor to ask." Her father said as he loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt to give him some breathing room.

"Sure. What's up?" Tatsuki asked, releasing her breath to return to normal as she carefully removed the puffy cupcakes from the pan so they would cool faster.

"I have to head to the office tonight for a litigation, so can you handle dinner for your mother?" He asked with a brief glance at Atsushi whom was refusing to look at the man.

"Sure. Where's mom?" She asked, setting a cupcake down on some tin foil she had laid out on the counter.

"Stuck at auction with the new calves for sale." Her father said simply.

"Okay. I'll handle it. It'll be in the fridge when you guys get home." She said as she removed the last cupcake and set it down gently.

Her father just nodded as his dark, familiar eyes shifted over to the insanely tall, purple haired teenager that was just standing in the middle of his kitchen like a statue. His shoulders were tensed, but his eyes weren't looking at him, opting to stare up at the ceiling as if he was waiting for it to do a trick. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, but with his keen dad eyes, he could tell in his wrists that he was doing it to hide their shaking.

"You can stay if you wish, Atsushi." He said dully and with a flat expression on his face.

Atsushi swallowed, "Okay, Sir." He near mumbled.

With a huff through his nostrils, Tatsuki's father stood and eyeballed them both for a few moments before leaving the kitchen, where they instantly relaxed with loud exhales of air as if the dinosaur just left without attempting to eat them. If Atsushi had learned anything over the course of his two months, he had learned that Tatsuki's father was a terrifying man and despite being shorter than him, most like everybody else was, he was very much not willing to gamble with his life by pissing the man off.

"Your father is scary." Atsushi shuttered before gripping the meat of his shoulders as he stared up at the ceiling some more and pinned the bar between his teeth to help him relax.

Tatsuki nodded, "He's an intense man... Part of why he's such a good agricultural lawyer." She said as she cleaned her hands on her apron and turned around to face him once more, completely missing his tongue disappearing into his mouth.

Atsushi sighed, "I'm sorry about earlier. I can leave if you want."

"You don't have to, Atsushi. It wasn't solely you." She said, her blush returning a bit as she smiled at him.

Atsushi's cheeks suddenly felt warm, "Um... I'd say lets try again, but the mood kinda got ruined."

"Yeah... Sorry." Tatsuki's blush deepened.

With the tension settling down on their shoulders, it quickly began to shift into awkwardness, but with neither willing to let it sour their evening, which was apparently theirs, they muscled passed it and returned their attention to the cupcakes on the counter.

He hadn't even had the time to see how they looked, but now he was able to see just how fluffy and perfect they had turned out. The tops were puffed up and plateaued perfectly, waiting to be decorated once they cooled and their color was an even shade of milk chocolate. There was no sign at all that there was a creamy whipped topping inside and with that simple knowledge, his taste buds were suddenly screaming for a taste.

"Can I try one?" He asked with a long finger pointing at the array of bait calling his name on the counter.

"They aren't decorated yet." She said a bit shyly.

"That's okay. I wanna try one and see how the filling turned out." He said, clacking his secret against the inside of his teeth.

"Oh... Well, I suppose you can." She said as she plucked up a cupcake and held it out for him.

His smile returning, Atsushi went to standing in front of her as he took the cupcake, spending a moment to admire its perfect shape before peeling back the paper cup and sinking his teeth into its warm and soft pillow of sweetness. His whole mouth erupted with the aroma of chocolate and nearly immediately after, hit in the face with the subtly sweet flavor of the whipped cream cheese filling as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. It was all still warm and perfectly melted in his mouth and when he opened his eyes to finally see and come down from his high, he noticed Tatsuki softly chuckling at him.

"Your reactions are so adorable." She giggled.

The corner of Atsushi's lips twitched up into a smile as he dunked the tip of his finger into the creamy filling before smearing it on her cheek, instantly making her squeak with more giggles whose lofty sound was as alluring as the cupcake was. He quickly found himself chuckling at the smear and when she smiled up at him with that big, bright smile that reached her eyes, that mood was back.

Lightly licking his lips, he continued to softly smile as he bowed his head and pressed his lips into her cheek to suckle the smear off her skin. Her giggles softened into airy exhales as she nuzzled into his actions, but with his lips so close to the corner of her mouth, the pull to taste them was far too strong to ignore.

His arm wrapping around her waist to bring her closer, he tilted her face up with a single finger against her chin and followed the smear closer and closer to her mouth. He could feel her exhales drifting over his cheek the closer he got to her mouth, and when their lips finally touched with the delightful mix of sugar and salt, he couldn't stop the low, guttural, almost primal thunder that began to vibrate his vocal cords.

He couldn't breathe, actually, didn't want to. All he wanted was to solely focus on the flavors flooding his mouth. The feel of her lips pressed against his that were lightly brushed with the flavor of the cream cheese filling was tantalizing, drawing him closer into just not caring anymore how their night went, so long as he could keep doing what he was doing. They were as warm as the fresh cupcakes and just as sweet, plump and full, and when her hand climbed up his chest and up over his neck beneath his hair, that vibrating moan returned to separate their lips.

With her hand tenderly sliding around to rest against the line of his jaw, Tatsuki drew in a filling breath to satisfy her lungs as she gazed up into his half lidded and violet eyes. His lips were slightly pinker than usual, just enough to highlight his actions and when the pad of her fingers drifted down over them, she couldn't ignore that he pressed a kiss just before they passed.

"It's better that way." Atsushi said lowly, using the pad of his thumb to dry the corner of his mouth.

Tatsuki blushed, "I um... wouldn't know. I didn't get to taste it." She said in a mumble with her hand settling down on his chest.

The corner of Atsushi's lips twitched up with a spark of confidence as he dropped his head again, holding her close once more as their lips pressed together for another kiss, except this time, his chocolate and cream cheese coated tongue entered the equation and divulged his secret.

The moment his hot and surprisingly long tongue entered her mouth, her sense of taste erupted with sugar laced with salt and having tasted her cream cheese filling countless of times before, she found herself wholeheartedly agreeing that this was better. The underlying saltiness from his saliva was perfection, but everyone else was just going to have to make do with the normal sweetness, as there wasn't a chance in hell she was going to share this.

However, as her tongue cleaned every trace of the sweet confection from his with long, smooth strokes that made his throat hum, her tongue brushed over the hardened round bead that rest against his tongue. It was perfectly smooth and tasted of nothing, but with a gentle probe of her own tongue, she began to realize what was punctured through the long appendage. She had seen him fidget with his tongue on countless occasions, had seen him run it over his teeth to make a sound she just brushed off as her imagination, but now that was she feeling it, it suddenly all made sense.

In order to satisfy his tendency to orally fidget no matter if he had sweets, or not, he had thrust a titanium bar through his tongue; Atsushi Murasakibara had his tongue pierced.

Gagging on her own breath, Tatsuki withdrew her tongue and parted their lips, leaving him bowing his head and softly panting for more as he tried to keep contact. That's when she saw it, the small fleck of silver punctured through his tongue and it sent a warmed flush all the way from the top of her head down to her toes.

"Your tongue's pierced?" She softly gasped, not moving from leaning against him as she stared at it in awe.

Atsushi held his breath, but nodded, "Y-Yeah. It actually helps me to focus when I can't get sweets. I've had it about a year now." His cheeks colored pink.

Tatsuki softly bit her bottom lip, "It's kinda hot."

Atsushi smiled and let his tongue loll out of his mouth so she could see it. It was a large bar, and the small bead at the top was even a small basketball. It had been his dirty little secret and he would only wear it whenever he wasn't home with the knowledge that his father would lose his mind if he ever found out. His mother had allowed it because it did, genuinely help him to focus when his mouth was engaged and it even cut back on cavities from giving his mouth something to do that didn't involve sucking down junk food and sweets.

Seeing her bite her bottom lip harder as she looked at it, his hands grasp both sides of her jaw while her arms snaked around his neck and he dropped his head back down to press their mouths together. She instantly swallowed his long tongue, deeply moaning as the hard ball of his tongue bar clacked against her teeth and pressed into the roof of her mouth. It was just as much fun to play with it with her own tongue, but as she rose up onto her tiptoes to deepen their kiss, his phone went off with an incoming call.

Atsushi groaned and rolled his eyes before withdrawing his tongue and parting their lips. He still tasted her, still wanted to, but his phone was making it impossible. It was frustrating that it had been thrice now that they had gotten interrupted and with a grumble, furrowed brows and a glare, he fished his phone out of his pocket and tapped the green spot on the screen to accept the call.

"Eh?... Hello?" Atsushi sighed, keeping a hand against her cheek to drift his thumb over her reddened lips.

Tatsuki couldn't make out what the other person was saying, but there were two words that her ears caught that were unmistakable and they caused her eyes to go wide. It was the third shock of the day.

"Hi, Mom... Uh huh... Thanks. Dad doesn't know you called does he?... Good... I'm fine... He's fine too... School's good... No. Just gonna stay in... Not really... I'm over at Tatsuki's now... Okay... Thanks for calling, Mom... Love you too. Talk to you later... Bye."

With another sigh, Atsushi ended the call and stuffed his phone back into his pocket, but when he looked back at Tatsuki, whose eyes were wide and her hands were cupped over her mouth, he cringed and took his hand away from her cheek. She just found out.

"It's your birthday?" She reeled.

Atsushi grumbled and gripped the back of his neck, "Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?" She yelped, finally dropping her hands away from her face as she continued to reel up at him.

"Because it's no big deal." He shrugged as he dropped his arm down to his side.

"No big deal?... I don't think so, Atsushi! It's your birthday! Oh my god! I have to bake you a cake!" Tatsuki was squealing as she started to scramble around the kitchen.

"Muro-Chin... Stop it. It's really nothing to worry about." Atsushi said as he just watched her rush through the kitchen to gather ingredients.

"Are you kidding! I won't let that slide!" She rattled off without even slowing down.

Atsushi growled and frowned at her with his throat vibrating with irritation. He had been enjoying the recent turn of events, how they seemed to be taking a step further into their friendship. Kissing her had been delightful, more than the cupcake he had so wonderfully enjoyed, but the constant interruptions were beginning to grate against his nerves. First the oven, then her father to be followed by his mother and it was getting to the point where he was believing the world was just against him. It was rude and he had had enough of it.

With a strong huff out through his nose, Atsushi took a single giant stride forward and wrapped his huge hands around her waist, easily hoisting her up off her feet where he spun her around and plopped her down on the counter to put her eye level with him. Her eyes were wide with shock, but she made no effort to move as he stepped in close to put her legs on either side of his hips and with his gaze sinking into her right eye, he suddenly found himself without words.

"I-Is it that bad?" She asked, resting her hands down on his chest to fiddle with his loosened tie.

Atsushi lightly sighed, "It's not that it's bad, it's just that my dad always told us that a birthday was just another day. He's an emotionless man and as a result, all of us are pretty dull emotionally."

"Oh, Atsushi... Wait... All of you?" She asked with a light furrowing in her brows as she brushed a lock of his hair back away from his face.

Atsushi nodded, "I'm the youngest of five. I have three older brothers and an older sister." He said, standing up perfectly straight, but never looking away from her gaze as he leaned into her a bit.

"Big family." She said quietly, letting her fingers trail down his long neck.

"My dad's a chauvinistic pig. My mom hasn't had a job in over twenty years and has spent most of that time pregnant, raising kids and in the kitchen while he rules our lives. He very much believes in old fashioned gender roles, but my mom taught us differently behind his back. Where my dad always said birthdays were just another day, my mom always got us small presents. That's where this came from." Atsushi said quietly, sticking his tongue out once more to expose the piercing while his hand raised to cup her cheek.

"What if I want to bake you a cake?" She asked, drifting her fingers down his cheek.

That was never a question he had ever been asked before, never even a variation of it. It was never what he wanted, or what any of his siblings wanted. It was always they had no choice and had to do it whether they wanted to, or not. In the Murasakibara household, the children were expected to follow orders, or reap the consequences, so hearing someone say they wanted to, and meaning it, was more new than the budding feelings in his chest whenever he and Tatsuki were close.

He held his breath as he softly brushed his thumb along her jaw, but with a gentle exhale, his lips started to tug up into a smile as he nodded.

"Okay... As long as I can help." He said softly with another duck of his head to press a quick peck to her lips.

She just nodded against the kiss, smiling and enjoying the feel of him being so close, but when her hands climbed up and laced her fingers into his hair, fully on the crown of his head, Atsushi immediately shuttered and broke their kiss with a drawn out groan.

"T-That's probably not a good idea." He breathed out, exhaling shaky breaths that traveled all the way down his arms to his hands resting on her sides.

"What?... Why?" She asked with confusion on her face.

"Because I love that and it's um... a bit of a... trigger." He stuttered as his cheeks started to turn pink.

Tatsuki's brows lightly furrowed, "A trigger-" her brain clicked, "Oh!... Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" She yelped, reeling back a bit at the thought of inadvertently starting his engine.

Atsushi's blush deepened, "I just... _really_ like it when someone runs their fingers through my hair." He shied into his own shoulders as he looked away from her with his rising embarrassment.

"I'll make sure to remember that," she bit her bottom lip, "So um... Shall we get started on baking your birthday cake?" She asked, eager to shift their conversation to give Atsushi that much needed reprieve.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... Um... I-If it's for my birthday, can I make a request?" He asked, coming out of hiding as he stood up straight, but kept his hands on her sides.

"Of course." She smiled big and bright as she settled her arms down over his shoulders and interlocked her fingers.

"Can the cake be that strawberry cake you make?" He asked, smiling down at her as he used a finger to softly sweep her bangs so they evenly covered her left eye.

"If that's what the birthday boy wants, that's what the birthday boy gets." She said lowly, still with her bright smile in place as she gazed up at him with alluring eyes.

Atsushi couldn't stop himself from returning the smile even if he wanted to as his arms tightened around her to pin her against him and still with her legs on either side of his hips. It warmed him to the bone standing there like that, and with another drop of his head to claim her lips, his mind finally accepted what had happened.

He had developed feelings for Tatsuya 'Tatsuki' Himuro and that birthdays really weren't all that bad.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The Autumn School Festival had been the talk of the month, as the entire school was elated for it to arrive. Each club was involved with getting their booths set up, how it would look and what they would sell so they could earn money for their respective clubs. Not a passing period, or lunch time passed without someone yelping their excitement and as the time drew closer and closer for the three day festival, that buzz only got more prominent and especially the day of.

For three days, classes were suspended in favor of the festivities and for the baking club, a rather modest club in comparison, they were busy with decorating their wide booth. Many of the girls were setting out their goods, arranging them nicely and in an array of colors, but for the only boy, Atsushi Murasakibara, he was tasked with hanging the decorations at the top of the booth because no one else could reach.

His brows were lightly furrowed as his large fingers tried to work the small wire he was using to hang the colored ribbons and bows with his tongue bar clamped between his teeth out of frustration, but his fingertips kept fumbling with the thin twist wire. He couldn't get it to twist tightly enough, or he was having trouble threading it through the small holes, but with each failed attempt, his brows furrowed more and his throat grumbled with irritation.

"Eh-... Stupid wire... Work right." Atsushi grumbled to himself just to release some of the irritation that was causing the vein in his forehead to thump and his teeth to grip the bar in his tongue harder.

He pursed his lips together as he tried for the third time to twist the segment of wire, but with a frustrated crank of his wrist, the wire broke from having been fiddled with so much.

"Why!... Why does this wire have to be so bothersome!" He whined, his shoulders slumping forward as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What's wrong, Atsushi?" Tatsuki asked, looking up from her arrangement of their chocolate cream cheese lava cupcakes that had been decorated with perfect swirls of cream cheese whipped frosting and topped with the two inch lengths of pirouettes.

"This stupid wire is too small." Atsushi grumbled with a long sigh as he tossed the broken pieces into a trash can across the wide aisle and making it in.

"Hmm... Want me to take over?" Tatsuki asked, placing the finishing touches on her alluring display of cupcakes before dusting her hands off on her small apron that wrapped around her waist.

Atsushi tried to muffle his groan, but it came out anyways as he gripped the back of his neck and looked away from her.

"Yes please." He said dully with a defeated sigh.

Tatsuki smiled, "Okay... Could you do me the favor of going to get a ladder? I may be 6' tall, but even I still need a hand sometimes." She lightly chuckled as she took the roll of twist wire from his hand.

Atsushi just nodded before turning and heading towards the school, stuffing his hands into his hoodie pocket as he huddled down into his shoulders to hide his nose from the chilled air. His hair fluttered a bit with the ultra light breeze as he walked, listening to what leaves remained bristle before being ripped from the nearly bare branches. It was a bright and sunny day, but as he walked, he couldn't ignore the tiny prickle building on the back of his neck.

It was a familiar prickle, one he had felt so many times during middle school. It was the feeling he got whenever a friend's passes were coming his way, when the ball was screaming in his direction after having magically curved in midair. It always put him on high alert and rightfully so.

That telltale prickle spiked, forcing him to turn around and slip his hand out of his pocket to hold it up just as a basketball blasted into his palm with a hard slap. His fingers curled hard into the leather, gripping it in his infallible, vice-like hold where the ball stayed and as he looked beyond it, the one whom had thrown it came into focus.

Shirō Kitagawa.

"So the rumors are true." Shirō said with a stone cold glare on his face as he crossed his arms, flanked by his two peons.

"What rumors?" Atsushi asked, still gripping the ball as he lowered his arm to his side.

"That you're him... Atsushi Murasakibara of the Generation of Miracles from Teikō Middle School. Your tale even reached out this far." Shirō said, still with zero emotion on his face.

Atsushi's eyebrows briefly narrowed, "Figures I couldn't run from that label. How'd you find out?"

Shirō shrugged, "Doesn't take much. A simple search engine inquiry brings up anything about a 6'10 teenager with purple hair." He said with a tilt of his head.

Atsushi glared, "Stupid press," he rolled his eyes, "Yeah... That's me. What is it you want?"

"Just wanted to confirm who my competition is. Looks like I gotta step it up, you towering freak." Shirō said with a hiss and brief glances at his two little followers.

The corner's of his lip curled with a hiss, "I've been called worse. Try harder."

Shirō's brows furrowed, "Listen up... I don't care if you're apart of the Generation of Miracles, or that you're that old man's nephew... His worthless ass farm will eventually be bought and so will Tatsuya's."

"She goes by Tatsuki. Get it right." Atsushi said with a low growl, but was standing too far away for any of the others to hear.

"I don't give a shit. Won't matter anyways once she's mine. I'll be able to negate those fucking contracts her father drafted and it'll put your uncle's farm within my family's grasp. It's only a matter of time." Shirō said with a hiss and a stern glare.

Atsushi drew in a huge breath that made him stand up even taller, "You're wrong. The mistake you made was assuming you would win without bothering to see whom your opponent was. If you read up on me, than you know damn well that when it comes to winning, no one can compare."

"We'll see about that-" Shirō was interrupted.

"No... We won't. Basketball is no different than the game you're trying to play. Both have similar rules, and both end with a victor being determined. I don't play anymore simply because I don't want to, but should you continue to poke the bear, I'll crush you into oblivion." Atsushi said, his voice no longer that dulled monotone to give way to a far more menacing growl.

"Is that a declaration?" Shirō asked.

Atsushi pursed his lips together while his throat rattled with a low growl and his grip on the basketball tightened to make the leather creak. He had always had a temper, and right now, as he stared at this far shorter boy whom didn't seemed to be phased by his size, it was getting away from him. Before he knew what he was doing, he had strode the distance between them in only a few bounds, far faster than any of them could have ever predicted and when his empty hand snatched up a full handful of Shirō's sweatshirt and hoisted him up, the three suddenly got a first hand look at just how fast he actually was.

"Listen you little shit... You leave Muro-Chin and I alone, and if you don't stop, I'll fucking make you stop. I've trampled over guys like you who think they have what it takes and each and every time they just end up on the bottom of my shoes. The only reason I'm here is because I decided to do something _I_ wanted and it got me sent to this fucking hellhole where I have to deal with losers like you, so heed this one warning; Leave. Me. Alone." Atsushi hissed lowly as he furiously glared down into Shirō's shaking eyes.

"A-Atsushi?"

Hearing his name in _her_ voice made his eyes go wide and his hand open as he shifted his gaze to look over Shirō's head where Tatsuki was standing. Her eyes were saddened, sparkling in the sunlight as she clutched her hands into her chest. She had heard him, and that very thought made his chest ache that he had hurt her. She genuinely loved the country, loved the simple way of life that set firmly into its routines. She loved the freshness of it all, the seasons, the people. Hearing him say he thought it a hellhole was probably worse than saying he hated her.

"M-Muro-Chin-" He breathed out, his other hand loosening to drop the basketball at his feet.

The longer he looked at her, the more her eyes shook and her mouth contorted into a quivering frown. He could see her eyes welling up with tears and it only served to make his chest hurt knowing it was his fault they were there. He had let his temper get away from him and because of it, he had hurt someone he cared for.

As the sound of her airy sobs hit his ears, she wheeled around and ran off, leaving him standing stock still in front of Shirō and his lackeys, but he was so focused on watching her go, that he didn't hear their snickers. He instantly wanted to see her smile, to hear her soft laugh and with that serving as his driving force, he pushed the three in front of him aside and started after her.

He didn't run, instead, he walked, not finding the energy to move any faster since he was still stiff from his shock of having been heard. He didn't even play with his tongue bar as he checked the baking club booth for her, the club room, even their classroom, but neither place had been the place she had disappeared to. He needed to find her, was near desperate for it and as he started for the roof of the school from a hunch that she might be there, his ears caught the subtle stifle from beyond the door.

Carefully, as quietly as the metal hinges would allow, he opened it, only for the sniffles to stop when they unsurprisingly squeaked. At first glance, the roof was vacant, but with the sun on his side, he saw the shadow of someone curled against the wall around the corner.

"Muro-Chin?" He called out, but still softly as he let the door shut behind him.

Another few sniffles touched his ears as he walked for the shadow, gulping as if he was walking into the lion's den without a weapon to defend himself with. He was nervous, was near to the point of turning around to avoid what was coming, but his chest pulled him closer and closer to the corner.

Standing there, he peaked around it to see Tatsuki sitting and curled into a ball against the wall. Her eyes were reddened and puffy from her tears that streaked down her pale cheeks and she had flipped her hair over her shoulder in an attempt to hide, but he could see and it broke his heart.

"Muro-Chin-" he breathed out her name, "I-I... I-I-"

"Is it really that bad here?... Do you hate it that much?" She interrupted him, sniffling as she looked up at him with her dark gray eye spilling another tear.

Her words pained his chest so much, that it was far too much effort to stay standing and not wanting to tower over her like a skyscraper back in Akita, he sank down to his knees so she didn't have to crane her head up.

"I-I-" he sighed as his shoulders slumped forward, "I did at first. I hated getting up early to help my uncle, and hated being out here where everything smelt different. I was contemplating just doing what my father wanted and going back to Akita to play basketball for Yōsen, but then... but then I met you." He hung his head.

Tatsuki's breath caught in her throat as she just looked at him.

"Ever since, being here just... made sense. The work didn't suck anymore and even coming to school was something I was looking forward to. I'm not excusing my anger, but... I would hate it here if it wasn't for you." He said, shifting to sit down on his bum and slouch forward with a sigh.

Tatsuki really didn't know what to say as she held her knees tighter to her chest. Her tears still flowed freely, but her soft sobs were silent as she reached out and brushed aside a piece of his hair to tuck it behind his ear.

At her touch, his saddened eyes flicked up to meet hers and all he could do was hold his breath. Since his birthday, since their mutual kiss, there had been an air of awkwardness that he couldn't quite fully ignore. He hadn't been sure if what he was feeling was true, or if it was just an excuse not to hate where he was, the genuine ache he felt whenever she was sad, only served to be his proof. His feelings were real and they weren't going away.

"I-I... I really like you, Muro-Chin... A lot." He said, finally drawing in a breath to make the burn in his lungs go away.

"Y-You do?" She asked, sniffling once more as she dried her nose on the cuff of her sweater.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... And more for just the reason that it pisses Shirō off." He exhaled a brief smirk.

Tatsuki's sad chuckle drifted up from her throat, "It is kinda fun, huh." She said, swallowing the last of her sadness.

"Yeah... But it's more fun liking you because," his cheeks burned with a blush, "because I like you." He said, gripping the back of his neck.

"I like you too, Atsushi... When we kissed on your birthday... I felt like I could fly." She said, beginning to smile as her fingers twisted a lock of his purple hair into a rope.

"I'm pretty sure I was." Atsushi smiled back as he picked at his fingernails and nervously clacked his tongue bar over his teeth to help calm him.

Tatsuki's returning smile made the ache in his chest go away, and seeing the light return to her eyes help to settle his own mind at what just happened between he and Shirō. Just that simple thought made his smile slowly fade, and she caught it.

"What did Shirō say to you?" She asked, taking her hand away to grasp on of his far larger ones.

Atsushi's brows furrowed, "He found out who I am."

"It's true... Isn't it." She said.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... The rumors about the giant purple haired kid are true. I'm _the_ Atsushi Murasakibara of the Generation of Miracles." He turned his eyes down back to his lap.

He had been trying to escape that label, to outrun it and start over. He had earned it in middle school, had become something feared like a nightmare, but it had been his father's choice. For him, basketball had always been cruel, had always been a sport where he was king simply because he stood a foot taller than the national average, but here, in the countryside, it was a fresh start; A chance to shake that label and just be him.

When Tatsuki released a long sigh, he was pulled from his inner thoughts as she grasped his hand and held it palm up, splaying out his fingers to study the lines and the slight roughness they had taken on from catching countless basketballs and attending countless practices until there just wasn't a challenge in it anymore. She ran her fingertips along the lengths of his, traced the lines in his palm and even compared its size to hers. His hands were so much bigger, his fingers so much longer that he curled them over the top of hers. She smiled at him sweetly, and when her fingers slipped between his, his fingers curled down to encase her hand against his.

"These hands can do so much... I'm surprised." She said, still smiling at him as she dried her eyes the rest of the way.

"Yeah?" His eyes bounced between their joined hands and her eyes.

"Devastating in basketball, yet are gentle enough to decorate cupcakes." She airily laughed.

Atsushi smiled, "If my dad knew I liked baking, he'd disown me for the rest of time." He laughed.

"Why does he want you play for Yōsen High so badly?" She asked, brushing another lock of his hair behind his ear.

"Because the Murasakibara have been playing for Yōsen for a long time. My brothers played and my dad wanted me to too, but I put my foot down. I was done with basketball." He said as his fingers began to fiddle with the hem of his pant leg.

"Is it because it wasn't a challenge anymore?" She asked, their hands dropping into his lap to just rest and be joined.

Atsushi shrugged, "That's part of it, but the real reason is because I wasn't liking what it was turning me into."

Tatsuki's brows furrowed, "Which was?"

"A monster."

She tried not to gasp, but a little air made it passed her lips anyways.

Atsushi sighed, "I was getting cruel... almost... evil in a way. I wanted to crush hopes and dreams and watch others struggle, but at the end of the day, it pained me. The others... we started to compete against each other just for something to do and only one of us saw it. We abandoned the game for our own pride and after we crushed a team at nationals, it's when I finally realized what I'd become." He said, his violet eyes turning distant as he recalled his memories.

"What about the one who saw it happening?" She asked softly, stroking her thumb along the meat of his hand.

"I don't know... Kuro-Chin has a chance to make them all see it, but I'm not as dull as people think I am. I saw how much we hurt him from what we did and even though we'll never see eye to eye on some things, he was right in the end. It's not a sport if we take the sportsmanship out of it." Atsushi said.

"Coming out here helped clear your head didn't it." She said, softly exhaling as she uncurled herself to rise up onto her knees and wrap her arms around his head.

Atsushi nodded, but just let her bring him to her, hugging his head to her chest as his long arms wrapped around her waist. Her comfort helped finish calming him down, as he was still a bit hot over the exchange with the one making his life harder than it needed to be. He didn't understand why he had suddenly become the boy's target, but apparently it was for the simple fact that he was close with Tatsuki. He thought it stupid, unwarranted, but with her gentle embrace and a warm hand falling down his back, he found his resolve hardening to be able to resist whatever Shirō could dish out.

He loosened his hold on her and leaned his head away, looking up into her endearing, half covered gaze. Her fingers had laced into his hair and just like before, it sent a shiver down his spine that made his breath catch in his throat and he had a sneaky suspicion that she knew it since she was smiling down at him with a glint in her eye. She had done it on purpose, knowing full well that it was a sure fire way to get his attention, but he couldn't be mad at her. He wouldn't.

"What do you say?... Wanna make it official?" He asked, giving her a tug by her waist to scoot her into sitting down in his lap.

Tatsuki's smile widened as she nodded, "I think so. This just feels right and the icing on the cake is that it'll piss Shirō off." She airily laughed.

Atsushi smiled, "Even better."

With his chin resting against her chest, she dropped her face down to bring their lips together for a stilled kiss. His hand floated up her back to rest against the base of her neck beneath her hair while her arms tightened around him and released their hold on his resolve when her fingers left his hair. His anger was completely gone with her there, and with the awkwardness from his birthday a distant memory, he couldn't agree more. It just felt right.

Wanting to hear her rumble with delight he had heard that night, he slid his tongue into her mouth to run his tongue bar over the roof of her mouth, earning that very sound that he was finding never failed to warm him to the bone. She completely swallowed his long tongue and even flicked the small ball with her own that shuttered his tongue just enough to make him moan.

It was just a flutter, but it felt delightful as it dispersed over the entire broad spectrum of his well worked tongue, but not wanting to let things get too heated within their budding relationship, he withdrew it with one, final and languid stroke to the roof of her mouth.

"Your tongue is gonna take some getting used to." Tatsuki said, airily exhaling as she drifted her fingers down his cheek, admiring the way the silver in his mouth glinted in the sun.

"You'll get used to it. It can be a pretty fun plaything." He said with mischief in his eyes as his eyebrows popped up once.

Tatsuki blushed and covered her face with both hands, "Oh my god, Atsushi!... Don't say that!"

Atsushi softly laughed, but wrapped his arms around her to hold her close and tight. Her blush was beyond adorable, so cute and sweet that he swore just looking at it was capable of giving him cavities. He was quickly becoming addicted to it in the same way he was a slave to his sweet tooth and with that simple reminder, he realized that they still had a baked goods booth to tend to.

"We should probably get back to the booth before the others eat all the sweets." He said, loosening his hold on her to let her lean away enough to look down into his eyes.

"If anything, they're safer with you _not_ there." She giggled, brushing the thick drape of purple hair away from covering his nose.

Atsushi gawked up at her with faux hurt, "Aw-... Das mean, Muro-Chin... I wasn't gonna eat them... Many of them." He grinned wide and with all his teeth.

"Atsushi!" Tatsuki playfully gasped as she lightly smacked his chest that made him flinch back.

Both chuckled before Tatsuki stood, getting out of his lap before offering him a hand to help his 6'10 frame rise to its full height. Neither stopped smiling and they even got wider when Atsushi stole a final peck before grasping her hand and heading for the roof door.

They walked hand in hand through the Fall colors, admiring the last of the leaves falling around them as they walked the path back to the terrace where the Autumn School Festival was to be held. All the preparations were nearly finished and with the large final banner being strung across the expanse between two trees, the only thing missing now, were the guests.

As Atsushi and Tatsuki returned to the baking club's booth, the last of the streamers were being hung along the top, and no one seemed to notice that the pair had disappeared for a time. They were all far too engrossed in finishing their set-up, and with brief smiles at each, they parted their hands to help with the last minute items off the club leader's checklist. The last of the colored streamers were hung, and the extra treats were secured before Atsushi could get his giant paws on them, and with everything ready, the festival officially kicked off with a blast of bright fireworks.

No one knew that a massive crowd had been waiting out front of the school, but with those bright displays of sparking colors, the horde filtered onto the grounds. Families of students and townsfolk bled in, all scattering in every direction to check out the booths and the children all ran for the festival games. The petting zoo was a hit with both young and old, the booth games were played without a care, raising money for their respective clubs and true to the stories they had heard, the baking club's booth was socked in with a crowd.

While Tatsuki helped sell scores of cupcakes and pastries, Atsushi had been tasked with handing out samples, even being forced to wear an apron while he offered small samples in tiny plastic cups to anyone wishing to have a taste of what they had to offer. He spent a good chunk of time hunched over just so people could see, but with his height, it made it super easy for their booth to be spotted. All people had to look for was the giant with purple hair.

As the sun began its first slid down towards the evening horizon, things finally began to wrap up as all the guests began to head home. All in all, with as many people that were there the first day, there was very little trash to pick up, and what few bits were there only took a few minutes to pick up and throw into a trashcan. It had been a wonderfully successful opening day for the Autumn School Festival and especially for the clubs, many of which had been able to garnish some cash for their accounts, but for the baking club, Atsushi and Tatsuki were suddenly faced with having to bake scores more of their sold out chocolate cream cheese lava cupcakes.

Their evening consumed with their task, the fresh couple found themselves heading to Atsushi's house to use his kitchen since hers was already in use with Tatsuki's mother busy with fixing dinner. They had only stopped long enough to gather their ingredients before heading over, and instead of having to walk the lengthy distance, Tatsuki's father gave them a ride where they found the house empty and with a simple note resting on the table.

"Hey, Atsushi?... Your uncle left you a note." She said, setting down the woven picnic basket onto the kitchen table as she scanned the handwritten note.

Atsushi set the pair of plastic bags down on the counter before going to her side, resting a hand on the small of her back as he looked down over her shoulder and set his eyes on the piece of paper. It was quickly scribbled with a short message with a scratched signed name and with just a huff and a crooked smirk, he flicked his eyes to meet hers.

"Uncle Hiroshi had to go to town for awhile. Looks like the evening's ours." He said, smiling a bit wider as he snaked his other arm around her waist to pull her against him.

"Except we have a ton of cupcakes to bake." She smiled, pressing in close to his chest and craning her face up as her hands clutched small folds of his shirt.

Atsushi pouted, "But Muro-Chin is more fun to taste." He grinned with pride as Tatsuki's entire face lit up with a blush.

Tatsuki's entire head felt abnormally hot as she buried her face into his shirt, trying to hide the intense blush that didn't leave a single patch of skin not tinted red. She could feel his chuckle against her forehead as he held her close and tight, pressing his lips to her hair and when she dared to look up, her blush persisted when she saw his eyes filled with amusement and mirth.

"I'm sorry, Muro-Chin... You're just too cute when you blush." He said, softening his smile as he brushed aside a stray lock of raven hair from blocking her right eye from his line of sight.

"I'll need to try to get you to blush because this isn't fair." She lightly laughed as she snaked her arms up to drape them over his shoulders.

"It'll be harder." Atsushi said.

"How so?" She asked, pushing a lock behind his ear with the tip of her finger.

"I spent three years changing and showering with a bunch of other guys. Do your worst." He said, still lightly smiling down at her.

Tatsuki's nose crinkled hard at the thought that she was going to have such a hard time returning the favors of blushing, but she was fairly confident that she at least had one card up her sleeve. She tightened her arms around him to tug him down and when their lips met, it was her tongue that slicked passed the gap between his lips. She immediately began to play with the tongue bar, flicking it gently back and forth and earning a delighted moan from his throat that she swallowed. She was learning real quick that his tongue was a weak spot, the gateway as it were to his resolve and when she threaded her fingers into his hair, slightly clawing them to press their tips into his scalp, his throat locked up and his entire 6'10 form shuttered with gooseflesh.

With a harsh hum, Atsushi panted through their kiss as he reached up and softly grasped her wrists, pulling her fingers from his hair as he lifted his head. He needed air, but he needed to regain control of his resolve before it completely submitted to her actions and as their lips parted, his tongue extended out of his mouth simply to keep tasting her.

"Rude... You did that on purpose." He said in a husky voice, his exhales stuttering in and out of his lungs.

Tatsuki grinned evilly, "Quite possibly, but it's only fair since it's my only weapon." She crinkled her nose and grinned wider.

"That was a different kind of blush, Muro-Chin. That's being sneaky." Atsushi half whined as he released her wrists and watched her as she started to pull the ingredients from her basket.

"Not sneaky; Just taking advantage of my opponent's weaknesses." She said with a wink.

One of Atsushi's brows popped up as he folded his arms over his chest, "Is that so?" He smirked crookedly.

"Mmhmm... And you have more than one might I remind you." She said, not even phased by his glare that was completely void of any sort of intimidation.

Tatsuki happily hummed to herself as she carried the items from the table to the counter where she began to unpack the rest of the items from the plastic bags he had carried. All he did was watch her as she smiled and worked, how her hair lightly swayed from side to side as she bounced around the kitchen to get things ready to bake a new batch of their special cupcakes. To him, she appeared to be glowing and it made him feel light, almost carefree that she was so happy and free spirited that he doubted anything in that moment could spoil her mood. It made him smile just as brightly as he stepped in behind her, trapping her between his long arms to halt her happy bouncing and the soft humming as he set his chin down on the top of her head.

"You're making it very hard to start baking, Atsushi." She said, still smiling as she laid her arms over his to lace her fingers between his.

"I know." He mumbled without making a move.

"They aren't gonna bake themselves." She said as he began to sway from side to side with her pulled back against him.

"I know that too." He said.

Tatsuki just shook her head before patting his hand, commanding his arms to release her so she could at least consider starting their rather large task, but when his hand appeared in her vision, holding an apron for her, she took it and slipped it over her head.

However, as she reached behind her to tie it, his hands beat her to it as he tied a snug bow before threading his fingers beneath her hair to pull it free from the neck strap. She lightly blushed again at just how gentle his touch could be and when his lips tenderly pressed against her temple, she couldn't stop the airy chuckle.

"Okay... I've had my fill of sweet things now." He said lowly into her ear.

Tatsuki's brows furrowed, "Good, because we have a ton to do."

"Then lets get started."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The Autumn School Festival had been a smash hit, much like it always was. Each club made healthy profits and especially the baking club, whom had the chocolate cream cheese lava cupcakes to thank for padding their funds. It had been a blast for everyone involved and it was during those three days that word began to spread of the gigantic new kid from the city having begun a relationship with the Himuro girl.

For the following weeks after the festival, many of Tatsuki's friends had come rushing up to her to ask scores of questions, but very few she answered, mainly because she didn't know the answer. It had been well known that the girls around school thought Atsushi was a sight for sore eyes, and naturally, they had all wanted to know the juicy details, but since all they had done in the weeks they had been an official couple, a few cuddle and make out sessions was as far as things had gone. They hadn't even had an official date yet, as it was normal for them to just stay in and bake something that Atsushi would inevitably eat, or they would just cuddle on the couch and watch TV whenever they weren't working Atsushi's uncle's farm. All was going right, felt right, but with the winter that was just about on them, Tatsuki had decided to plan their first official date.

It was Saturday afternoon and the air was cold enough where Atsushi could see his breath every time he exhaled. He was wrapped in a warm coat and a scarf, and his hands were protected with a pair of fluffy mittens to keep his hands warm as he chased after Tatsuki through her family's farm. She was skipping and spinning, beaming with a smile as she lead him somewhere and since she absolutely refused to tell him, he was left guessing.

"Muro-Chin!... Where are we going?" Atsushi whined as he followed her passed the dairy barn with her a small distance ahead.

"Just come on!... It'll be great!" She called back to him, still spinning around and skipping with glee.

Atsushi pouted, "Just tell me what you've got planned. If it's work related, I'm going back to the house to sleep." He said, but continued after her and having to step out his stride simply to keep up.

"No you won't, because you're curious!" She giggled, trotting back to him and snatching up his mitten covered hand.

She tugged him along without a care, completely ignoring his whining as he buried his nose down into his muffler to help keep it warm. He was bundled up like a child and the cold air had even colored his cheeks pink that she couldn't help, but think it was the most adorable thing in the world. He wasn't a fan of the cold and watching him work a great deal to squish his entire 6'10 frame into his coat was like watching a giant baby elephant play in a kiddy pool.

All Atsushi could do was let her drag him along because it was quite clear that she wasn't going to let anything slip. She pulled him passed the dairy barns where she turned down the dirt road to guide him around back, passing the pig pens and trotting by the chicken coop. She skipped right passed the nursery barn where the brand new calves and their mothers were safe and warm and it wasn't until they arrived at the long red barn behind that that was lit with muted yellow beneath the gray sky.

"We're here! This is going to be so fun! You're gonna love it." She said, still smiling wide as she dragged him inside.

The moment he stepped over the threshold, he immediately smelt a different kind of smell. It wasn't the earthy musk of a cow, but rather the soft scent of chewed hay and dirt; The smell of horses safely tucked away in their warm paddocks. A few quietly whinnied, but as his violet eyes gazed down the barn's length, straight down the middle to the other side, he saw a pair of horses tied to posts and having already been adorned with saddles.

"Oh no... Oh, I don't think so, Muro-Chin... I can't-" Atsushi began to protest, tugging back against her pull, but still holding her hand.

"It'll be fine! They're real sweet!" Tatsuki said, stopping and turning to see that his face had drawn down into a frown that softened her smile.

"They're animals! You want me to get on something that can think for itself!" Atsushi refused to take another step as he planted his feet and stopped their progress.

Tatsuki's smile began to fade away, "But it's fun... I was gonna show you all over my family's property and a few other places." Her smile was completely gone.

Atsushi's chest ached at seeing her sad, "Muro-Chin-" he plopped his face into a palm, "I don't... I don't know how to ride a horse." He admitted.

"R-Really?" She lightly gasped, tightening her hold on his hand just a little bit.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah." He mumbled almost too softly.

"Oh... Well, I guess I can't be all that surprised. You're from Akita after all." She said as her smile returned and she lightly chuckled.

"Hey... Don't get mean." He said with a poke to her cheek with a mitten covered finger.

"I'm sorry, but trust me... It's not hard." She said, smiling up at him as she clutched his hand in both of hers.

Atsushi groaned, but his eyes shifted from hers to the clearly larger of the two beasts. It was positively huge, so enormous that its back came up to his shoulders. It stood on legs so long and so thick that he swore they could be used as support columns for a building and its neck was so wide that even his hands had room to move around and pet the thing. He groaned as he blew out a long sigh, but tightening his grip on her hand in reassurance, he gave up trying to resist and hung his head.

"Alright... How do I get on this thing?" Atsushi asked, scrubbing a hand down his face as he let Tatsuki begin to tug him forward once more.

"First, you gotta say hello." Tatsuki beamed up at him as she slowed their pace to a simple walk as they approached the very large horse.

Atsushi arced a brow, "Uh... Hi?"

Tatsuski chuckled, "Not like that... Like this." She said as she guided his hand to set it down on the giant quadruped's neck.

Atsushi was stiff as he started to pet the beast, flinching a bit when it rasped out a huff and a grunt with its floppy lips slapping off its teeth. Even standing right next to the thing, it was a massive creature, but it was calm, seemed lazy and was more than content to chew on the hay that Tatsuki had set out for it.

"His name's Chronos." Tatsuki smiled as she held her hand flat and open to let the massive beast take a carrot from her.

Atsushi sent her a sidelong glance, "Har har... The titan from Greek mythology." He rolled his eyes.

Tatsuki smiled, "Mmhmm," she hummed, "It was fitting since he's a Clyde." She said, returning her attention to petting the large horse.

"A Clyde?" Atsushi asked as he looked over at her.

"Clydesdale. It's his breed. Not a lot of families keep them because they can get expensive to get here, but they're so strong and helpful around the farm." Tatsuki said, stepping away from the horse's head to stand right next to him.

Atsushi smiled down at her, "And you ride him?"

"Not usually, but he was already broken when we got him." Tatsuki said.

Atsushi nodded, "Ah... So how do I get on this thing?" He asked, taking a step back to get a full look on what to do.

"Well, you put your left foot here in the stirrup and grip the reins and the saddle horn like this." She said as she demonstrated the position he needed to take to hoist himself up and onto the creature.

Nodding his understanding, Atsushi stepped up next to her just as she stepped away, giving him room to mimic her posture as he hiked his left leg up and put his foot into the stirrup and gripped the reins and saddle horn just like she had.

"Like this?" He asked.

Tatsuki nodded as she reached up and clutched a chunk of the horse's mane and tucked it into his hands, "Hang onto this too. Don't worry... He won't care."

Atsushi held his nervous breath and under her counting cadence, he hopped on his right leg before hoisting himself up on her count of three. He swung his right leg over Chronos' back and seated himself down into the saddle, taking a second to settle himself down, but with his 6'10 height now sitting on top of a horse that already stood 6 feet tall at the shoulder, he was left to hunch over far and duck his head to keep it out of the rafters.

Tatsuki chuckled, "I probably should have had you get on outside." She covered her mouth to help hide her giggles.

Atsushi grumbled, "Muro-Chin... I'm too tall."

"Sitting on a horse that's as tall as me, yes." She continued to giggle.

Atsushi glared, "Hurry up and get on your horse so I can get outside and sit up like a human."

All Tatsuki did was snicker more as she untied Chronos where he stayed put before doing the same to hers and expertly climbing up onto its shorter back. She settled down into the saddle before clicking her tongue and craning the reins to the side, turning her horse around to begin walking out of the barn and without having to do a single thing, Chronos began to follow.

With the large door lower than the rafters, Atsushi decided just to lean all the way forward, putting his chest to the horse's neck as it stomped out of the barn with Tatsuki riding a length ahead. It was easier that way to get under the door's frame, but once he was fully outside, he sat up straight, breathed a sigh of relief and realized just how high up he was.

"This thing is huge!" Atsushi yelped, lightly gulping as he gripped the reins and the saddle horn out of uncertainty as the horse stepped it out to walk alongside Tatsuki's horse.

"He is a big boy, but our other horses are too small for you. You settled in okay?" She asked, smiling over at him as their horses walked.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... It's pretty easy to just sit here while he walks." He lightly smiled.

"Here's some quick tips... When he's trotting, land on your butt like a deflated beach ball and when he gallops, roll with him." She said as she subtly let out the reins to give her horse its head.

"Huh?... What do you-" He tried, but he never got the chance.

With a loud hiss, Tatsuki drove her heels into her horse's side and with a huge spur, the animal lunged forward into a full gallop to tear ahead. He was completely stunned by the sudden burst of speed as she rode hard down the dirt road with her horse's hooves driving into the dirt. It was an amazingly fast creature and wanting to keep up and prove he could do it, he copied her preparations and let the reins out.

"Catch up, Chro-Chin." Atsushi said as he blew out a nervous breath.

With a hard kick to Chronos' side, Atsushi was immediately propelled forward by the literal one ton of meat he was riding on. It was incredible how fast Chronos went from a plain walk to a full gallop, and remembering her words, he somehow subconsciously settled into a smooth roll. Every time Chronos' backside rose up into the air with the lifting of his legs, Atsushi rolled forward and when his hooves came down hard on the dirt, he rolled back. It only took a few awkward moments before he settled into the almost natural motion and it made it easy to ride the giant creature as he powered forward after Tatsuki and her horse.

Chronos was surprisingly fast for his size, which wasn't far from how he was surprisingly fast for someone whom stood 6'10 and weighed closer to 230 pounds now that he had been working on a farm for the last few months. He used to be built of lean muscle and sweets, but now had thickened up with strong muscle that filled out his framework, not unlike how Chronos was built. The animal's head bobbed in perfect sync with its gallop and before he knew it, he and Tatsuki were galloping through her family's farm, down the path between their fields and deep into the countryside.

Despite the grayness of the day, Atsushi started to smile as they galloped, the heavy hits of hooves breaking up the sound of his racing heart that was thundering from the excitement of it. He didn't care that his cheeks were getting cold from the rush of wind and how fast they were going, how the crops whizzed by at breakneck speed and the howl of the wind buffeted in his ears. The world seemed colorless with the coming winter, but even without it, it was still just as beautiful as they rode deeper and deeper, passing paths that jutted through the crop fields and forgotten sheds and outcroppings of open space where one could hide if they wanted to.

They galloped passed clusters of trees dotted throughout the property, but as Tatsuki veered her horse towards a larger cluster of bigger trees, their horses slowed to an easy canter before easing up into a walk and stopping at the treeline.

"We're here." Tatsuki smiled at him before standing and slipping off the saddle.

Atsushi did the same, following her example and touching down onto the ground where he rolled his hips a little to return to a natural stance. He felt just a bit odd from having ridden atop the horse, like his legs were still apart to accommodate the wide back, but given a few moments, he returned to normal and slung the reins over the horse's head to tie them to a branch in the same way Tatsuki did.

"What is this place?" Atsushi asked, rubbing his cheeks warm with his hands that were still covered with his mittens.

"I call it 'The Grove'. I come here to get away and be alone sometimes." She said as she stepped into the trees and waved for him to follow.

He took a second to look around and there really wasn't a single thing close by to where they were. The house was a tiny speck on the horizon and they were completely surrounded by corn fields, pasture and more clusters of trees. The sky was huge and gray above his head and as he turned his gaze back to Tatsuki, he started to wind his way into the trees.

He stepped over roots and sidestepped around trees, ducking under low hanging branches and pushing others out of his way as he followed her. He felt like he was going back in time, only to reemerge back in medieval times, but as he pushed aside one more branch that hung low enough to shield his view, he emerged out into a small clearing that had several logs arranged around a rock fire ring that already had a crackling fire to help provide warmth.

"M-Muro-Chin?... What is this?" He asked, fully stepping into the small grove and going to sit down next to her on a log.

Her cheeks started to shade pink, but he couldn't tell if it was from the ride, or the shyness that was causing it.

"I just thought that... that this would be a nice first date." She said, ducking her head down a bit into her own shoulders from shyness.

Atsushi sat up straighter, "First date?... I always thought those were like... dinner and a movie, or something."

"Well... yeah, but that's kinda hard to do out here." She bit the corner of her bottom lip.

"Is everything okay, Muro-Chin? Why so shy all of a sudden?" He asked, leaning forward a bit to get a better look at her face.

"N-No reason... I just... I really like spending time with you and out here, there's less of a chance we'll be interrupted." She held her breath as her eyes traced all over his face.

"Interrupted?... You don't mean like... if we... you know." He said, scooting closer to her just to feel her shoulder against his arm.

"No!... No, not at all," she sighed, "I just wanted to come out here so we can share a special kiss." She admitted.

"Special kiss?... How is it different from all our others?" He asked as he felt his cheeks beginning to warm up from rising blood.

Tatsuki's cheeks darkened, "Well, it's because there would be different feelings behind it because-" Her voice trailed off.

His brows furrowed as he watched what he now knew was a blush spread across her face, creeping up her skin all the way to her hairline. She still couldn't look at him for longer than half a second, but he couldn't, for the life of him, understand what she was meaning.

"Because why, Muro-Chin?... D-Do you not like me anymore?" He asked and gulped as his eyes softened with rising worry.

"No!... Oh my god! No! That's not it! I do like you! A lot! More than I have ever liked anyone!" Tatsuki hurriedly said with terror in her shaking eyes.

"Then what it is?... I don't understand." He said quietly as he hunched down into his shoulders with a bit of self-consciousness.

Tatsuki exhaled as if she had been holding her breath, "I um," she gulped, "Atsushi... I think I... I think I like you more than... that." She bit her bottom lip once more.

"Like me more than-" his brain clicked, "Oh... Oh, you mean... You mean you... l-love me?" Atsushi asked, his voice trailing off as he pointed at his own chest through his mittens.

Tatsuki nodded.

Atsushi just rubbed the back of his neck as his own face started to burn hot with a blush, and his chest started to flutter with a tight ache that he had only ever felt whenever he was worried. Tatsuki was his first real relationship, not just a quick fling like he had had before. Basketball had a way of attracting all manner of girls, a lot of which were just coming into their own of lusting after the pretty ones and he had had more than a few throw themselves at him. It might have meant something if he wasn't so lazy as to just shrug them off, but where Tatsuki was concerned, he very much didn't wish to screw anything up.

"I um... I think maybe... that I... love you too." He stuttered, his words becoming airy as his voice ebbed off.

Tatsuki lightly gasped, "R-Really?" She looked at him in the eye for longer than the half second she had been.

Atsushi nodded, "Y-Yeah. Y-You mean a lot to me and-" his voice was quiet as he bowed his head closer to hers, "you cook really sweet things and-" he drew in a shaky breath, "you taste really good when we kiss and-" His voice finally vanished in his own throat.

Tatsuki was holding her breath as she leaned closer to him with her eyes half lidded, "Yeah? What else?"

Atsushi nodded as an arm wrapped around her back to grip her opposite waist, "You make being out here special." He near whispered as his eyes closed.

Tatsuki smiled just as their lips met, starting out still before their tongues braved the cold to explore each others mouths like they had done so many times before. They were a new couple, fledgling in its own right, but saying those words, admitting their hearts seemed right to them both. Their hearts felt like they were flying, were so light yet electric that they swore they blended into the air around them that smelt of ozone and ice. It was the smell of winter and when a tiny touch of cold landed on his cheek, Atsushi finally started to breathe again as he withdrew his tongue with a final, long stroke along the roof of her mouth to make her softly moan at the sensation of his tongue bar.

He looked up at the gray sky, not seeing anything at first as he tightened his hold on her to hold her as close as possible to his side. Her hand rested on his chest as she followed his line of sight and when a tiny, crystalline fleck of snow fluttered down in front of them, both began to smile as more soon joined.

"Atsushi... It's snowing!" Tatsuki beamed, holding out her hand to let a small flake flutter down into her glove covered palm.

Atsushi lightly smiled, "It snows a lot in Akita too, but it's either on, or off. There is no in between." He said, holding her close for cuddles while they watched the snow fall more and more.

Tatsuki softly chuckled, "Either nothing, or Armageddon huh?"

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... Berms as tall as me sometimes." He smiled down at her as chilly flakes began to gather on his hair.

"That's really tall." She airily chuckled as she leaned in close to his side for added warmth.

Atsushi just nodded as he tightened his hold on her, smiling at her the whole time as he cupped her chin with a mitten covered knuckle and tilted her head back to him where he capture her lips for another slow and tender kiss. Not even a second passed until their tongues greeted each other where Atsushi's far longer one pushed against hers to push it back, but was soon rendered powerless when she started to play with his tongue bar. He moaned low as each breath struggled to get in and out of his lungs, but when the distant mumbles of another's voice began to touch his ears, his brows furrowed as he parted their lips.

"Do you hear that, Muro-Chin?" Atsushi asked quietly, sitting up straight to look over her head and scan the trees.

Tatsuki tilted her head and furrowed her brows, but soon, her own ears began to pick up a voice from somewhere around them. Whomever was speaking, and from what they could catch, almost sounded irritated and it was clear they were talking to someone since they were talking out loud and someone was answering.

"Someone's nearby... Come on." Tatsuki said quietly as she grasped his hand and stood up from the log.

Atsushi just followed her into the trees that surrounded the grove, only releasing her hand when he had to to push aside pin needle covered branches and hold them aside so she could get through. The voices were echoing around them, bouncing off the tree trunks, so it made it difficult for them to follow until they stepped out of the trees, only to spot the source of the strange voices.

With a soft gasp of surprise, Tatsuki reeled and ducked back into the trees, dragging Atsushi with her so they were hiding behind a large splay of branches that shielded them from view. She rested a finger over her mouth to signal to keep as quiet as possible where Atsushi just nodded and listened.

"You're an idiot... Look at the survey. It says their crops are ten feet over their property line, which makes them illegal." Said one of the voices.

"But that survey's twenty years old, Shirō. It's probably different now." Said another.

"I can't just march into the city clerks office and order a current land survey for property my family has no claim to, Moron, but going by this, those stupid Himuros are breaking the law, which would make all those fucking protection contracts null and void." Said the angered voice.

Tatsuki and Atsushi glanced at each other.

"Shirō-... This is getting out of hand." Groaned the second voice.

"I don't give a shit!... I've gotta find an alternative to get my hands on their farm because that stupid, lazy giant is fucking everything up."

Atsushi's brows furrowed.

"So what? Don't you think your family has enough land?"

"Screw you, Dude. My family's the only reason yours hasn't starved, so I don't wanna hear anything from you."

"Come on, Shirō... Just let it go."

"No!... I'm not letting it go! That idiot doesn't get to just waltz into town from the city like he owns the place and take my girl. I don't give a shit if he is apart of that ridiculous Generation of Miracles crap; He doesn't belong here and if I can destroy the Himuros, then he'll disappear."

"You don't know that. He's massive, Shirō. He could flatten you with a glare."

"Then I'll figure something out. He's too stupid to know something's up, so we'll trap him.

Atsushi's lip began to curl with his rising anger.

"No, Shirō... I'm done with this. You lost this one. Just accept it."

"Fuck you, Dude. I haven't lost anything. I've just had a setback. I'll think of something to get rid of that monster moron. That stupid bitch will be too broken once he's gone and I'll be able to swoop in and play the white knight." The voice snickered.

Both Tatsuki and Atsushi grumbled lowly.

"No, Dude... I'm done with this. You've gone too far this time. We're trespassing on someone else's property just so you can try and find a loophole so your family can get greedier. This is ridiculous. Do whatever you want, but I'm not gonna be involved."

"You walk away now and I promise you, your family's crop profits are gonna drop like a stone."

However, instead of the other voice answering, there was only silence for several moments while Atsushi and Tatsuki just stared at each other with worry in their eyes.

"Fine... Fine, I'll stick around, but only because my family needs that field rent." Said the second voice after a few moments, being much quieter and sullen.

"That's what I thought."

As the voices began to trail off, Atsushi and Tatsuki shared another glance as they stood up, only pushing the branch aside once they were confident that the owners of the voices had gone when duel rumbles of small engines drove off into the distance. There was no mistaking the more dominant voice, not only because they had heard it a million times before, but also because his company had called him by name. It was Shirō Kitagawa and one of his friends whom apparently, he kept in check by making threats of taking away his family's income.

"That lowlife... I can't believe he's traipsing around my property looking for a way to take it from us." Tatsuki growled angrily as she clenched her gloved hands into fists.

"I knew he was a dirtbag, but I didn't think he was that much of one." Atsushi said, exhaling a long breath to help him relax his brow line.

"There's no telling how long he's been sneaking in back here." Tatsuki said.

"Hey look, Muro-Chin... Quad tracks." Atsushi said, pointing with his whole hand at the chilled ground just up ahead that was quickly becoming dusted with a coating of snow.

Tatsuki followed his hand, and not even a second later, she saw the muddied tracks. There were two sets that crisscrossed each other and they ran deeper into the Himuro property and disappeared behind the large acreage of crop.

"They're riding back here?... I wonder if their scouting out other property lines." Tatsuki said with a brief glance up at him

Atsushi nodded once.

"Come on... Lets follow them and see where they go." She said as she grabbed his hand and headed back through the trees towards their horses.

Atsushi couldn't agree with her more as they untied them and climbed back up into the saddles, steering around and picking up the trail of wheel tracks. They needed to work fast, or the falling snow would cover them up, but being on horseback, they had extra legs to pick up their pace.

They slowly cantered down the trail, following the quad tracks that ran along the backside of the Himuro crops and didn't stop until they needed to cross a bare country road. They stopped for a moment and looked both ways before walking across where both Tatsuki's horse and Chronos picked it back up to canter over the tracks.

"Ease up... We're off my property now, so we should walk." Tatsuki said, tugging up on her reins to slow her horse.

Atsushi did the same and held Chronos' head long enough for Tatsuki to come along side so they walked side by side.

"Are people gonna get mad at us?" Atsushi asked, giving his horse back his head to just lumber along.

"No... Most people don't care since the farms aren't separated by fences, or anything. Everyone just kinda... travels back and forth this way because not everyone has a car." She said, letting out a sigh as she wrapped the reins around the saddle horn and began adjusting her coat tighter around herself to keep warm.

"Oh... Where do you think these tracks go? Back to his house?" He asked as he just watched her since his vehicle was capable of thinking for itself.

Tatsuki shrugged, "Maybe, but so far, I've seen them branch off towards a couple other farms deeper in. I think Shirō's scouting potential victims for his family." She picked the reins back up and just let them rest in her lap.

"And coming after me apparently. What do you think he's gonna do?" He asked, turning his eyes down towards the tracks.

"I don't know, but keep on your guard." She said.

"Do you think he'll wanna fight?" He asked.

Immediately, Tatsuki shook her head, "Absolutely not. You'd obliterate him. Shirō isn't stupid; He'll come up with something that'll give him the advantage."

Atsushi's throat rumbled, "I'll crush him in anything he wants."

Tatsuki nodded, but her eyes turned sad and her chest tightened with worry. She couldn't decide if it was luck that she and Atsushi had overheard their secret conversation, or misfortune, but no matter how she looked at it, it was a worrying development. Things seemed to be settling down once word got out that she and Atsushi were together, and she had thought that maybe, just maybe, Shirō had given up, but it appeared that that wasn't the case. He had been planning in the background like some sneaky chancellor keen on taking over the throne and that very much wasn't sitting well with her.

They continued riding along the tracks for quite some time until the snowfall became to heavy to keep their eyes on the tracks. A blanket of white a few inches thick had covered the ground, had deadened the sound around them to be able to hear anything other than the ultra fine rustle of the snow settled down onto the ground. They couldn't follow the tracks anymore, simply because, they were no longer there.

"Come on... Lets head back and tell my father. He needs to know about this." Tatsuki said, tugging up on the reins to halt her horse and turn it around.

"How far have we gone?" Atsushi asked, halting Chronos and using his height to scan the area.

They had traveled for sometime in the back country, having put behind the clusters of trees in favor of rolling hills and smaller fields. There wasn't a house to be seen, the last one being quite awhile ago and even that looked abandoned and forgotten. The air felt colder as the snowfall thickened, now being a steady drift of flakes that looked like sprinkled sugar.

"A ways. We're about halfway to town. It's gonna be dark soon so we better get going." She said, firmly kicking her heels into her horse's side to spur it forward into a canter.

Atsushi offered another glance around before craning Chronos around and driving his heels into his side where he bounced a few strides before settling into a canter. His heavy hoof falls pounded firmly into the accumulating snow, leaving behind black holes in the snow that were set into an infallible pattern. He rolled with Chronos' movements as he followed Tatsuki back the way they had come, retracing their own tracks back through the back country and towards home. It was a lazy journey, but eventually, they returned to the Himuro property and headed back for the paddock to return their horses.

After tying the horses up, both headed for the Himuro farmhouse and slipped off their boots before stepping inside, setting them aside before padding deeper into the home. As always, it smelt of cinnamon and sugar from the candles Tatsuki's mother would constantly burn, and it was warming against the cold of outside with its first snow of the season. It was welcomed, and he would have smiled if he had found in him to do so.

"Dad?... You here?" Tatsuki called out as she peaked inside the kitchen in search of her father.

"In here, Tatty-cakes!" Came her father's voice from the living room.

Atsushi followed her down the hall and into the large living room where her father was lounging back on the couch reading the paper. A pair of reading glasses hung low on his nose and as he sat up, folding his paper and setting it down on the coffee table, he slipped them off and set them down.

"Hello, Atsushi. How was your guys' ride?" He asked in a pleasant, yet deep tone as he stood up.

"Fine until we ran into Shirō and one of his friends." Tatsuki said, stopping by the archway to the living room and crossing her arms.

Her father's dark brows immediately furrowed hard, "What the hell is that little brat doing on our property?"

"We didn't see, but we heard it. It sounded like he's been search for property violations. We heard that he had an old property survey from twenty years ago and he said our crops go ten feet off the line." Tatsuki explained.

Her father's eyes widened, "What?... That little shit! He's scouting for his family, isn't he." He growled.

Tatsuki nodded, "We think so. He and his buddy rode quads down the old trail paths that lace through the back country."

Her father stood up, "Can you two take me to where you saw them?"

"Yes, but the snow's covered them up." Tatsuki said with a glance up at Atsushi.

"That's fine. I just wanna see for myself for a better understanding." Her father said as he started for them.

Her father stepped passed them and went to put on his boots and coat as Atsushi and Tatsuki put theirs back on and stepped out onto the porch to wait. It was only a moment before her father stepped out and closed the door harder than he probably meant to, but the look on his face suggested otherwise.

"I'll follow you two out there in the Ranger. Go get on your horses." He said firmly.

Both nodded as they headed back for the paddock while her father went to the garage, and when they climbed back up into the saddle, Atsushi heard the throttled roar of the UTV's engine starting up. It was a lumbering beast, capable of carrying four people plus a couple bales of hay if need be. It was a mechanical horse that helped her father and mother work the farm and it was about to be put up against four legs instead of four wheels.

With just a smile on her face, Tatsuki blew him a kiss before snapping her palm into her horse's haunch, causing it to toss its head and rear before pounding off into a full gallop with her father taking off after her in the Ranger. He had literally been left in the dust and snow, but with a lopsided smirk adorning his face, he leaned over to look Chronos in the eye.

"Can you do that?" He asked, pointing down their path.

Chronos just shook his head and huffed out a grunt that flared his large nostrils.

"Yeah... I didn't think so. Looks troublesome. We can't let them leave us behind though." Atsushi said as he sat up.

Pursing his lips together, he drove his heels into Chronos' side where the giant horse launched himself forward on his thick and powerful legs, intent to close the gap.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Winter had fully set in. Everything was covered in a thick blanket of snow and the whole world was black and white that swallowed up all sound like dead space. It was cold, but beautiful and it all sparkled like a thick layer of powdered sugar had come down from the skies.

Students were filling into the school, all smiling and talking about the upcoming winter break. Many were just looking forward to relaxing, working their family's farms, or spending time with friends and loved ones. Others had family coming in from out of town, but for two, they were just looking forward to spending time with each other.

It was well known throughout the school that Atsushi and Tatsuki were together, so when he stepped off the bus and was immediately greeted by her with a warm hug and a kiss, no one gave a damn. It was old news, a re-run and when he took her hand to start walking towards the building on their way to class, all Atsushi did was tiredly smile before burying his face into his muffler to cover his yawn.

"How come you're so tired, Atsu?" Tatsuki asked, clutching his hand a bit tighter as she leaned into his side as they walked.

Atsushi squeezed his eyes shut to let his yawn run its course before giving his head a quick shake to help him wake up.

"Uncle Hiroshi's been teaching me to drive his grumpy old truck so I can work the farm better." He said, hiding his pink tipped nose in his hand knitted scarf that Tatsuki had made for him.

"He's just doing that now?... I've known how to drive since I was ten." Tatsuki lightly giggled, covering her mouth to help keep it hidden.

Atsushi glared down, "I was in Akita when I was ten... Wait... Was I in Akita by then?... Yeah. I was in Akita by then."

"You moved around?" Tatsuki asked, catching the uncertainty in his tone.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... Dad's work, but he landed a management position when I started middle school, so we haven't moved since."

"Ah... You must have seen some cool places then." She said with a sweet smile.

Atsushi shrugged, "Eh... Just city after city. Kyoto, Tokyo, Kantō, before finally ending up in Akita." He said, reaching out with his other hand to open the door for her.

"Wow... I'd love to travel one day. I've lived here ever since I was born." She said quietly, waiting a moment in the entryway for him to step inside and kick off the snow from his shoes.

"To be honest, I'd rather stay in one spot. Moving all the time sucked and it's too much work." He said as he headed for his locker to change his shoes out with her right by his side.

Tatsuki chuckled, "Listen to you grumbling about work, Mr. I've been working on a farm for months."

Atsushi glared, but it was just for show as he changed his shoes, "Because I actually like my ears where they are.

Tatsuki chuckled more as she changed her shoes before the pair headed for their classroom, enjoying the morning just like all the other students. They trudged up the stairs to the second story, never once parting their hands as they climbed and each step they took, their shoulders brushed up against each other. It was a nice morning, quiet and calm, and it was no different when they stepped into their classroom and took their seats.

The teacher began their lessons just like every morning, droning on with the same bland tone as he passed out papers and commanded the students to open their books, but when the PA system crackled on, drawing everyone's attention, the sounds of sneakers on polished hardwood began to filter in before being blasted over by an endgame buzzer.

 _"Welcome to the recap of today's nationals and boy oh boy what a game. It was a complete shut down at the middle school nationals today in the game between the finalists; Meikō Middle School and the famed and glorious Teikō; Home to the Generation of Miracles. The endgame score was 111-11, which was an astounding lead, lead by none other than Teikō #6; Daiki Aomine."_

The familiar recording piped on to Atsushi's horrified expression.

 _"It was another impressive display done by all and especially Teikō #5; Atsushi Murasakibara, whom stood above the rest and prevented nearly all of Meikō's attempts at scoring points. None could stand before the giant, and it only got worse for Meikō when Teikō's abominable Shooting Guard got his hands on the ball._

 _"Teikō #7; Shintarō Midorima rocked the house with his impressive, long distance shots and with each swoosh, Meik_ _ō_ _'s hopes of clutching the nationals from the ruling emperors of Teikō came undone, despite sinking a basket for them right at the endgame buzzer. It was destruction made flesh and it only goes to prove that Teikō's Generation of Miracles, truly are monsters."_

The PA shut off to the confused look of the other students, all of which were turning around in their seats to look at him as if he had just opened a third eye on his forehead. He was frozen solid as he looked at them, just trying to find his own breath before flicking his gaze to the side to meet Tatsuki's. He had been expecting her to be glaring angrily at him, expecting her to be looking at him in disgust, but instead, her eyes were calm, saddened for him and comforting.

"S-So the rumors are true... You are Atsushi Murasakibara of the Generation of Miracles." Said a student three rows up.

Atsushi gulped, but nodded, "Y-Yeah... I was jersey number 5." He said, his shoulders rolling forward as he looked down at his desk.

"Did you guys really make a basket for them?" Asked another.

"Yeah... I put it in when Aomine told me to." Atsushi said, glancing over at Tatsuki with a silent plea for help.

Many of the students began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Why?"

Atsushi swallowed, "B-Because we were bored. The challenge of the game was gone and no one was capable of standing against us, so we started to make up challenges amongst ourselves." He said quietly, beginning to fidget with his hands and nervously biting his tongue bar as he looked at the other students.

"So you made the basket for them just to what?... Make them match?" A student towards the front asked.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... We crushed hope that day."

The whole room was stunned silent as they stared at him, watching as he sunk back into his chair and stared at his desk. He didn't even look up when a gentle hand came down on his shoulder, knowing it to be Tatsuki's, but when another student opened their mouth, it made him shake.

"Boy... The Generation of Miracles really are monsters."

Atsushi winced at the word, but ignoring the nods of agreement, he stood and headed for the door. The teacher said nothing as he walked out, suddenly feeling claustrophobic and needing air in any form. He didn't even have his coat on, but that didn't stop him from charging up the stairs and bursting out onto the roof.

The sudden blast of cold air hit him in the face like he had just been punched, but it felt oddly good to his heated and embarrassed face. He was angry, hurt, ashamed as he remembered not just the game, but hearing the broadcast when it had played back then for what really, wasn't all that long ago. He had never once denied the rumors, but he never acknowledged them either and when a low snicker hit his ears, his breath caught as he looked up to see the last person he wanted to see.

Shirō Kitagawa.

"Now the whole school knows what you really are." He said, crookedly smirking at him as he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets.

Atsushi's brows furrowed hard, "Where did you find that?" He asked lowly, his large fists clenching tightly at his sides.

"Around... Like I told you at the Autumn School Festival; It doesn't take much to look up the Generation of Miracles." Shirō said, huffing his smirk wider like he was daring the giant.

"Why make the whole school know? What do you gain by it?" Atsushi asked, drawing in low, even breaths to keep from losing his mind.

"Everything... Now Himuro knows what you really are. You don't seem like the type to tell her." Shirō said.

This time, Atsushi smirked, "You're wrong... I told her. She knows everything from then."

Shirō's brows furrowed, "And she still sticks with you?... Didn't think her standards were that low."

"Say whatever you want, but that doesn't change the fact that Muro-Chin is mine, and you can't have her, or her family's property." Atsushi said with a hard tone as he gazed at him with fire sparking in his violet iris'.

Shirō growled, "That isn't up to you!... I'm trying to make this town better! If it wasn't for my family, most of this fucking town would have starved!" He was suddenly yelling.

"That's bullshit! You're stealing people's land and getting away with it!" Atsushi suddenly boomed, rocking forward on one foot as he pointed a long finger at the smaller boy.

"You can't prove a fucking thing. All of this is legal, protected by the company that pays our bills and by consequence, your uncle's bills. You take my family down and the whole town goes with it." Shirō hissed with a tensed jaw and eyes that were wide with a sadistic glare.

Atsushi's throat vibrated with a growl, "If you ever come anywhere near my uncle's farm, I will crush you." His breath began to heave in and out of his lungs.

"You can't do shit. You don't belong here, so why don't you go ahead and head right back to the city and keep your fucking nose out of country business." Shirō growled.

"I can't, and I won't." Atsushi sneered down at him as every muscle in his body went tense with rage.

For the barest of moments, Shirō's eyes narrowed.

"We'll see about that. Go ahead and wallow in the whole school knowing what you are, you freak." He hissed.

Holding his angered gaze, Shirō started for the door, intent to leave it at that while he smirked with is assumed victory, but when a large hand planted on his chest, stopping him right next to the very boy he just called a freak, the crooked smirk began to die.

"That recording was right about one thing; The Generation of Miracles really are monsters." Atsushi said lowly, looking down at the top of Shirō's head as his hand began to move.

His hand still pressed firm into Shirō's chest, Atsushi's hand moved up, drifting over his collarbone until his long fingers began to walk over the boy's neck. It would be so easy, just like gripping a basketball, and he could hear the boy's breath catching in his throat with the anticipation, but when the door to the rooftop squealed open, his hand dropped away.

"Atsu?" Came a nervous voice.

There was no mistaking it. It was hers, and he turned around to see Tatsuki standing in the doorway. Her eyes were large, sad and they shimmered with worry as she looked at them, but when they set firm on the boy next to him, her lips pressed together as she rushed forward and swiped her open hand across Shirō cheek.

"How dare you." She hissed hard and low, holding her stinging hand to her chest.

Shirō rubbed his cheek as he turned his head back forward, "So touchy." He near whispered as he glared at her.

"Don't you ever... _ever_ come near us again and if I catch you setting a single toe on my family's property, you'll find out first hand just how far my Dad can reach." Tatsuki growled low and threatening as she sidestepped in close to Atsushi's side.

Atsushi exhaled slowly as he turned to face Shirō and wrapped an arm around Tatsuki's waist to not only piss off the shorter boy, but to satisfy his want of having her close.

"You can't prove anything." Shirō said in just above a whisper.

"I don't need to... All I need is to suspect, and that will lead to proof." Tatsuki said without a flinch.

The atmosphere was heavy, more than tense as Shirō stared at them with a hard line serving as his mouth. He was outnumbered and he knew it, with just a huff and a sneer, he headed for the door.

As the door shut with a metal clank, both relaxed and let the tension bleed off of them. They sighed as Tatsuki turned to face him and curling into his chest where his long arms wrapped around her and held her tight. It was warm in his embrace, safe and despite the cold outside, she would stay there all day if she could, but there was still a heavy weight hanging over their heads that neither could ignore.

"Atsushi?" She said, leaning away from his embrace just enough to look up at him.

"Hmm?" He hummed as he ran his hands up and down her sweater covered back.

"Are you okay?" She asked, reaching up to rest her hand against his chilled cheek.

Atsushi's eyes turned down, but he nodded, "Yeah... I will be. What's all being said?"

"Just the usual murmurs. I guess everyone already had a pretty good idea, but the recording just confirmed it." She said, sweetly smiling up at him as her thumb trailed under his eye.

He nodded, "I had a feeling they did," he sighed, "I don't wanna be a monster, Muro-Chin... I just wanna be me." He said, tucking a raven lock of her hair being her ear to get a better look at her right eye.

"I know, Atsu, and you can do that here. I don't see a monster... I just see somebody that I love." Tatsuki said as her tensed lips twitched up into a smile.

Atsushi returned the smile, "I love Muro-Chin too. I know I've told you about it, but... I still worry you might think that I'm a nightmare." His smile softened.

"I don't... I promise."

His smile broadened for a moment before hunching over, wrapping his arms around her tightly to bury his face into the crook of her neck. Her gentle scent helped to calm his mind, the sweet nectar of vanilla and the subtle aroma of flowers. It was refreshing and calm and over the course of time that they had known each other, been together, it had become a scent he had come to associate with her. Even his mind would make him catch the slightest of hints of it and whenever he thought he smelt it, he would become aware of her. It was his calm, apart of his safe harbor, and it would always be that scent that would guide him to her.

After a few moments, Atsushi unwound his arms and stood up, running his hands down her arms as he ducked his head to place a warm kiss to her forehead. He felt her lightly shiver with the set in cold and she had tucked her arms into her chest to try and keep them warm. She was trying not to shiver, but not wanting her to catch a cold, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and headed for the door to go inside.

Back inside the warmth of the school, the pair headed back for their classroom and the moment they stepped through the door, the whole class went quiet. He felt subconscious just standing there, like they had just found out he had a set of wings, but with Tatsuki's warm hand grasping his, it was a thought that was quickly pushed aside as she lead him back towards their seats.

However, as he sat down, intent to return to class, he noticed no one was looking at him. Not even the teacher was looking at him as they continued on with their lesson and seeing that he wasn't on display, wasn't a freak show as it were, he breathed a sigh of relief that perhaps, things wouldn't go any further than this.

With that in mind, he and Tatsuki settled in for the rest of their studies, listening to the teacher drone on, doing the book work before going to lunch and enjoying a meal together. Only a few more murmurs were said about him, but for the most part, the school didn't care, was content just to go about its business and when they returned to class, that's exactly what it was; Business as usual.

By the time the school day wound down, they had a bit of homework and a project to get done before the holiday break. It wasn't much, but Atsushi very much didn't have the motivation to do it. It required work and with his stomach grumbling loud enough for Tatsuki to hear as they headed for their club room, he was more focused on getting something to eat instead.

Her light chuckling at the sound of his stomach made him laugh with her and when they stepped into the club room that was better known as the cafeteria kitchen, both their noses were hit by the sweet, warm and wafting aroma of baking strawberry turnovers.

"Oh my heavens... That smells delicious." Tatsuki sighed with delight as she clutched onto Atsushi's arm a bit tighter.

"I want it." Atsushi said, swallowing his immediate overabundance of drool before it could seep out of his mouth.

"You've had a dozen of them before, Atsu." Tatsuki said with a soft smile as she lead them towards their usual workstation in the back corner of the kitchen.

"I know, but they're still good." Atsushi said a bit quietly as he sucked in a huge lungful of the warm and sweet scent.

"Insatiable." Tatsuki chuckled.

"In more than one field." Atsushi said under his breath as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her neck.

Tatsuki squeaked, "Atsu!... Stop it!" She laughed, cupping a hand over her mouth to keep her voice down.

"No." Atsushi said with a grin, nibbling up and down her neck and shielded by her hair.

"Atsu... You big goof, we've gotta start on our special holiday treats." Tatsuki continued to chuckle as she crinkled her nose.

"Do we even know what we're making yet?" Atsushi asked, ceasing his nibbling of her neck to rest his chin on her shoulder.

Tatsuki pulled out their recipe book that was filled to the brim with their own, homegrown recipes and flipped it open, shuffling aside the gathering of recipe cutouts, magazine clippings and hand written pieces of paper from their own concoctions. There were dogeared pages, bookmarks and slips of colorful post-its that all served to hone their progress in the kitchen.

"I don't think we have. We've done just about everything in here." Tatsuki said as she just settled back into Atsushi's large body behind her.

"We should try something new. We've done cakes, cupcakes, chocolates, pastries and even jellies. What does that leave us with?" He asked, releasing a long sigh as he reached around her shoulders to turn the page.

Tatsuki shrugged, "I'm not sure... We need something handy and that doesn't make too much of a mess so we can use them as decorations for the holiday gathering." She said as she flipped the page to another recipe.

"No mess... Handy... Able to be used as decorations-" he listed off quietly, "Oh!... Hard candies! What about that?" He smiled and turned his head to look into her visible eye.

"I suppose we can try." She said with an apprehensive tone.

"What's wrong, Muro-Chin?" He asked, reaching up to turn her face towards his by her chin.

"Hard candies are more difficult to make. If we screw up, we could get burned... Literally." She said softly as her eyes scanned his face.

"We'll be careful. I think we can do it though. And I have the best thing in mind." Atsushi said as he smiled at her.

"Be my guest." She said, offering him the pen.

Atsushi took the pen from her and flipped to a clean page where he began to draw to draw. He started with a smooth arc, curving it around and down to form a cane before doodling in the twisted stripes all the way down, but instead of stopping there, he began to draw the delightful accent that set it apart from any other candy.

Delicately wrapped around the neck of the cane, was a sprig of real peppermint leaves tied with small ribbon.

"It's adorable, Atsu. The real peppermint leaves aren't gonna be cheap though. We'll have to get those from the herb store in town I think." Tatsuki said, smiling at the picture he had drawn.

"Think the club will cover the cost?" Atsushi asked, setting the pen down next to their growing cookbook.

"I don't know. It's a pretty specialty item, but I guess we'll see what we can do. I'm just nervous about the boiling sugar part." She said, sinking back against him a bit more.

"We'll be fine. We'll just take it slow and we'll make sure to read the recipe all the way through." He said, placing a soft kiss to her ear.

"I don't know-... It's just-" Her voice fell off as she bit her bottom lip.

Atsushi's brows lightly furrowed, "What is it? You've never turned away from making sweets."

"I know, b-but... I've never made hard candies like that before. I'm scared they won't turn out right." She admitted, shying into her shoulder as she avoided his violet gaze.

"Then we just eat them. We always eat our mistakes, but between you and me, I don't think we're gonna have a whole lot of them." He said softly, placing another kiss to her ear.

Tatsuki softly bit her lip, "What makes you so confident?"

"Because you taught me. I like making sweets with you and it's more fun because if we mess up, we get to snack. Whenever I messed up in basketball, I just got to do push ups, or run around until I fell over, but this is better. Making sweets, baking like this... I like it." Atsushi said, smiling at her as he stood up straight and released her from her warm prison.

"I'm glad you're having fun with it, Atsu. It's really fun creating something from just a few ingredients." Tatsuki said as her cheeks started to turn pink.

"I really am. Before this... I thought my hands were only capable of handling a ball. I didn't think that they could actually create anything." He said, looking down at his left hand with its relaxed fingers.

"Hands can do a lot and it's been really neat seeing yours learn. You took to country life pretty fast." She said, looking up at him with a brief glance and a soft smile.

Atsushi exhaled a crooked smirk, "We work for the same man right? If I didn't do what he said, I'd either have no ears, or there'd be my face print permanently pushed into the dash of Zombie Truck."

Tatsuki lightly chuckled, "I remember you telling me about that. Still funny."

Atsushi's throat grumbled, "Wasn't funny at the time. It hurt." He frowned, rubbing his forehead as he leaned down and rested his forearms on the counter.

"I bet," she smiled and caressed the nape of his neck, "So, where should we start?" She asked as she took her hand back and returned to looking at their recipe book.

Atsushi shrugged as he planted his chin into his palm, "I guess find the recipe we're gonna use."

"Internet it is."

Atsushi just smiled at her as both pulled out their phones and began to search, cruising webpage after webpage in their search for the perfect recipe. With trying something new, they didn't have much information and before they new it, while Atsushi searched for a recipe, Tatsuki watched videos on how best to make candy canes.

That was all they did for their time at baking club; Researching and studying while the others baked up scores of delectable treats that were making Atsushi's stomach grumble even more with want. After having pinpointed a few suitable recipes, he had started wandering and ever since joining, he had quickly acquired the reputation for 'taste testing' everybody's creations whether they wanted him to, or not. Most would just allow it since they had no chance of standing up against the giant food vacuum, as it was better to just sate the beast, but most would receive contented smiles that were ringed with either frosting, or fruit jelly. It gave Tatsuki some time to narrow down their options, and by the time it was time to head home, she had not only decided on which recipe was the best, but also had a pretty good idea of how to pull the candy into canes.

Gathering up their things, Atsushi and Tatsuki walked hand in hand to the bus that was to take Tatsuki home, and giving her a soft kiss goodbye, he hugged her and watched her go. As much as he wanted to go with her, to ride the bus until her stop where he would ride it home to his, this afternoon was already booked with heading into town with his uncle. He was left to wait, wrapped warmly in his coat as he stood next to a light pole with his hands in his pockets. The air was cold, making each exhale plume from his lips like smoke and each one he took in chilled his throat and made him lightly cough. He hunkered down into his muffler to help keep him warm, but when the distant rumble of what he had come to call Zombie Truck grew louder and louder, he looked up to see his uncle trundle down the drive of the school and stop.

"Hey, Killer. Have a good day?" Hiroshi asked as Atsushi opened the old truck's door and squeezed inside the cab.

"Depends on your definition." Atsushi said, plopping his bag down between them as he shut the door with a hard, metal slam.

Hiroshi's brows lightly furrowed as he started off, "What's that look for? Something happen?"

Atsushi sighed, "The whole school knows who I am now thanks to that punk, Shirō." He growled low in his throat.

"That shithead again? What did he do?" Hiroshi asked harshly, his brows furrowed harder as he briefly glanced at his nephew before looking back out at the road.

"Broadcasted the national game from last year over the PA system." Atsushi said dully as he planted an elbow down on the door and rested his chin in his palm.

Hiroshi scoffed and slowly shook his head, "What a little punk bitch. Can't even man up enough to face you on equal terms."

"What equal terms are you talking about? He looks at my sternum." Atsushi glared over at his uncle.

Hiroshi lowly laughed, "True, but how is that any different than Tatty?" He asked, turning out onto the main road and heading towards town.

"Muro-Chin is taller." Atsushi deadpanned as he looked back out the window to watch the sky darken.

"Ah... So what? She looks at your nipples?" Hiroshi chuckled.

"Really?... No... Collarbone." Atsushi grumbled lowly.

Hiroshi just drove the truck down the road, smirking crookedly as both listened to the groan of the truck. As aged as it was, it was rhythmic, but soon, his uncle broke that rhythm by changing the subject.

"Spoke to your mom earlier." Hiroshi said, the amusement gone from his voice.

"That's nice." Atsushi said without even bothering to look away from the window.

"Figured you'd say that. She wanted me to tell you she loves you." Hiroshi said, resting his wrist on the top of the steering wheel.

Atsushi scoffed, "If that was true, she'd call me and tell me herself."

"I'll give you that, but I know she means it." Hiroshi said.

"I guess." Atsushi shrugged.

Hiroshi sighed, "Did you get her email?"

Atsushi nodded, "Yup." He popped his lips.

"And?"

"What else is there to say? She tried convincing me to just give up and go home. I didn't even answer it." Atsushi said, sighing himself as he dropped his arm into his lap.

"You're still angry, aren't you." Hiroshi said quietly.

"Yes!... I'm angry she didn't back me up! I'm angry she doesn't stand up for herself! I'm angry that she just lets _him_ rule the roost and doesn't do anything about it! Fuck yes I'm angry!" Atsushi suddenly snapped, his brows furrowed hard over his violet eyes.

"I understand, but she's still your mom." Hiroshi said.

Again, Atsushi sighed, "I know... and in the end, I still love her. To be honest, I did answer her email and I told her I was already home."

Hiroshi spared a few extra moments to stare at his nephew with his lips slightly parted. He didn't expect to hear that answer, to hear that from the lips of a city kid. Over the passed several months, Atsushi had expanded himself, had molded into a farmhand with the help of Tatsuki Himuro and had even packed on some more muscle from the hard labor. He had worked really hard and over those several months, he had even started waking up early all on his own to help.

"Country life grew on you, hmm?" Hiroshi asked quietly, returning his gaze to the road.

Atsushi sighed and nodded, "I like it out here. Even if the school knows who I am, they don't care. They don't look at me like I'm a monster, or some freak show. They just... look at me and see another kid. Muro-Chin doesn't care who I am, or what I've done, or that I'm over a head taller than her; She just sees me and it's really nice."

"I'm sure the food helps." Hiroshi started to laugh.

Atsushi couldn't stop from smiling, "Yeah... The food's pretty damn good too."

"You've really taken to cooking by the way. Have you ever considered it?" Hiroshi asked, his laughter ebbing off into a gentle smile.

"Considered it for what?" Atsushi asked.

"A career?"

Atsushi sat up straighter which only served to press the top of his head into the worn out headliner, "I haven't really thought about it."

"You should. You really picked up a few things from Tatty." Hiroshi said.

"Yeah... I like baking with her." Atsushi said as he just watched his hands pick at his fingernails.

"It shows. I don't think I've seen you not smiling whenever you guys are in the kitchen." Hiroshi said with a huff.

"We're gonna try making candy canes for the holiday gathering at school." Atsushi said, looking through the windshield as town became visible in the distance.

"That's ambitious." Hiroshi said, slowing the trucks speed with the speed limit change.

"I think we can do it. We just need a place we can hog for awhile without anyone bothering us." Atsushi said, drawing in a deep breath to sigh.

"Well, that works out then." Hiroshi said.

Atsushi's brows lightly furrowed as he looked over, "What do you mean?"

"I've gotta head into the city with Tatty's dad and we'll be gone all night, so the house is yours." Hiroshi said, bringing the truck to a grumbling halt at a stop light.

"Really? Why?" Atsushi asked.

"Look in the bag."

Atsushi's brows crinkled again as he looked down at the truck's floor, seeing a crumpled up paper bag sitting on the transmission hump and behind the tall gear shift. It was no bigger than a grocery bag, but when he picked it up, the weight from whatever was inside told him it was more than just groceries.

"Found that in the back 40 near the treeline." Hiroshi said, sending periodic glances at his nephew as he opened the bag and peered inside.

What lay at the bottom, was a deep green box with several nylon straps laying every which way, painted with random splotches of differing shades of green and tan. It was camouflaged to blend into the brush of the trees and sticking out of the top of it was a small antenna the thickness of his thumb.

"What is it?" Atsushi asked, reaching inside the bag and pulling the box out.

"Well, that's part of why we're heading to the city. We're thinking it's one of two things; Either a motion activated camera, or it's a GPS surveyor." Hiroshi said, starting off once more with the turning of the light.

"A GPS surveyor?" Atsushi arced a brow in curiosity as he turned the box over in his hands.

"Uses satellites to retrieve property information and such. It's a pretty slick gizmo, but I didn't put it there." Hiroshi said.

"Maybe Shirō did. Muro-Chin and I caught him and one of his friends on the backside of their property." Atsushi said as he put the device back into the bag and closed it up.

"That's why we're getting it checked out. If it turns out that little punk bitch is trespassing and looking for real estate loop holes, Tatty's dad thinks we'll have a good chance at getting an injunction." Hiroshi said, pulling into the turn lane to wait for a chance to pull into the parking lot of the farm feed store.

"The sooner he's out of my hair, the better. He's irritating as hell and if I could, I'd crush him flat." Atsushi said with a frown and a grumble in his throat.

Hiroshi smirked as he turned the truck, "I don't think I'd stop you, but don't go getting into trouble with him, or you'll have me to deal with." He glared for a moment.

Atsushi's spine shivered, "I won't start anything, but I can't promise I won't finish it if he does."

"That's fine. If he starts it, put his ass down. He could use a good slapping from those huge ass hands of yours." Hiroshi said, parking the truck in front of the large, roll up loading door.

"Hey... That's mean." Atsushi whined as he climbed out of the truck.

Atsushi stepped around the truck to the large pallet of grain feed that was being brought out by a beeping forklift and started to hulk the heavy bags up into the truck's bed.

"It's the truth. You're handling those bags like a dead body." Hiroshi smirked, lifting a bag up onto his shoulder with a hard puff to his cheeks.

"Maybe I'm just practicing."

The two laughed as they worked to load up the truck, one bag after another into the truck bed until the whole pallet had been loaded. The truck's suspension squatted from the weight and when Hiroshi and Atsushi both got back in, the truck groaned and coughed as the engine cranked to life. It squeaked as it started off with a full bed, but oddly enough, the added weight made it behave better on the road.

The drive home was spent in silence, but both he and his uncle were at ease with it. The evening was approaching quickly and the sky had darkened into an inky gray with the threat of approaching snow. The ground was heavy with it already and if he hadn't been so used to the white fluffy flakes from his time in Akita, he'd be worried, but the whiteness made the landscape beautiful. Where the Autumn had been golden, Winter was white and serene. It was calming, almost dreamlike with the thick blanket of white and throughout his time with his uncle, learning and working, he was finding that he really didn't want to give it up.

Even with having to deal with Shirō Kitagawa, everything else, from his uncle, to his farm, to Tatsuki Himuro, made it all worth it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Author's Note: I'm sure you all have noticed that my posting times are kinda all over the board right now and that's because my husband and I are in the middle of moving. Everything is so chaotic right now, but at least I have managed to find time to post everyday. Please be patient with me and continue to enjoy my work!**

They were as ready as they were going to get. They had their recipe and had watched countless of videos on the best way to make the candy canes without risk to themselves and all they had to do now, was get their ingredients and do a test batch.

However, that was easier said than done, as Atsushi's uncle and Tatsuki's father had already left that morning for the city and wouldn't be back until they knew for sure what the camouflaged box actually was. It left him on his own to care for the farm, do his schoolwork and feed himself and he seemed to be managing without too much trouble. The animals were fed and their paddocks were cleaned right on schedule, and when all was said and done, he would eat and do his schoolwork. All seemed to be going well, but he was suddenly faced with a problem.

He and Tatsuki needed to get to town to go to the store, and he had no rightful idea how to drive Zombie Truck, despite his uncle's attempts at teaching him.

Atsushi stood on the porch of his uncle's house, staring at the snow and the way Zombie Truck was glaring at him in the fading light with its wide open and round headlights. He glared right back with his hands stuffed into his coat and his nose buried in his muffler, and when his phone rang, his brows furrowed with irritation that he was going to have to take his hands out.

"Hello?" Atsushi deadpanned into his phone, holding it to his ear with a mitten covered hand.

 _"Hey, Atsu... Are you on your way?"_ It was Tatsuki.

"No... Um... Not yet, I mean." Atsushi grumbled as his cheeks started to feel warm, which was a relief from the cold.

 _"How come? Is everything okay?"_ She asked.

"Well, um... I uh-" He tried to find the words.

 _"Atsu... You don't know how to drive the truck do you."_ She said simply.

Atsushi's brows furrowed hard as he glared at the metal beast, "I can!... Uncle Hiroshi's been teaching me." He grumbled and pouted.

 _"Atsu-"_ She said.

Atsushi's forehead started to twitch, "Fine!... I can't get it right! It just stalls out every time I let that stupid clutch pedal out!"

Tatsuki laughed out loud, _"Then why didn't you say so?"_

"Because I wanted to drive us to the store." Atsushi mumbled and hid his face deeper into his muffler.

 _"Well, we aren't walking in this cold."_ She said, still with her giggle in her words.

"No shit! It's frigged out here!" Atsushi yelped.

 _"You're out on the porch, aren't you."_

"Are you actually at the end of the driveway watching me, or something?" Atsushi rolled his eyes.

 _"No, I'm at home waiting on you, but I'll have Mom drop me off there and I'll teach you."_ She said, her tone light and teasing.

"Muro-Chin-" he whined, "It'll be embarrassing!" Atsushi grumbled and pouted even more.

 _"Why?"_

"Because." Was all be could say.

 _"Because why?"_ She asked.

Atsushi grumbled, "Just because!"

Tatsuki chuckled, _"I'll be right over."_

Atsushi sighed and hung his head, "Fine... I'll be here."

The call ended and he stuffed it back into his pocket as he just stood there and glared at the truck. Every second he spent glaring at the old truck only served to grate against his nerves even more, and that irritation was only compounded with the fact that he had trouble figuring it out. He and his uncle had taken the truck out together on more than one occasion where his uncle had tried to teach him, but he was having a huge problem getting the thing moving without it jerking back and forth before stalling out. Before they had gotten much further, his uncle had always gotten too frustrated and taken over, resulting in no chance to put anything to practice. He wanted to drive the truck so they could get to the store, but he didn't have a chance of getting it out of the driveway.

The crunching groan of snow being rolled over drew his attention as a silver car turned down the driveway. It's headlights were blinding, even in the gray light of the afternoon, but he knew well enough, and having somehow managed to squeeze himself into that very car's backseat, that it belonged to the Himuro household.

As the car slowed and stopped, the passenger side door opened and Tatsuki stepped out, leaning over to say something to her mother before closing the door and looking his way. She immediately smiled at him and waved as he stomped down the stairs and despite not wanting to take his hands out of his coat pockets, he did just to wrap her up into a warm hug.

"I'm sorry, Muro-Chin. I really wanted to, but I've never thought about driving since I didn't need to back in Akita." Atsushi mumbled into her scarf wrapped neck.

"It's okay. You'll get it this time." Tatsuki said, unwinding her arms from around him and heading towards the old trunk.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked as he followed.

"Because I'm teaching you. Now hop into the driver's seat." She said with a kind smile as she opened the passenger door and sidestepped into the cab.

Atsushi sighed and opened the driver's door, "I guess... Uncle Hiroshi just gets frustrated and kicks me out." He said as he slid into place and shut the door with a hard metal rattle.

"Well, that's him. You can start it can't you?" Tatsuki asked.

Atsushi nodded as he dug the keys out of his pocket and put the right one into the ignition, planting his foot down onto the far left pedal and pushed it all the way to the floor. This was the easy part, as it didn't require much else other than pushing a pedal down and turning a key and just as it always did, the cranky old truck throttled to life.

"Alright... Now try starting off and we'll go from there." She said, settling back against the bench seat with her hands in her lap.

Atsushi let out a long, drawn out sigh as he steeled his resolve, keeping his left foot down on the clutch as he shifted the gear shift into first just like the worn diagram on the knob indicated. He took another breath as he tried to focus on what his feet where doing, but just like every other time he tried to set off, the truck jerked forward hard and stuttered to a dead stop.

"Ugh!... See? It's too grumpy!" Atsushi grumbled as he frowned down at the steering wheel.

"It's grumpy, but she's only grumpy because you haven't found her g-spot yet."

Atsushi's whole body immediately stiffened, "The what!"

Tatsuki giggled, "The g-spot. Didn't your uncle tell you about it?" He covered her mouth with a glove covered hand to hide her chuckle.

Atsushi gulped, "I know what a g-spot is!" His cheeks immediately began to flush with a blush.

"Not that g-spot. The truck's." Tatsuki continued to chuckle.

"Eh?... What do you mean?" He asked with an arced brow.

"That's what my mom calls the spot just before the engine stalls out when you're letting the clutch out." She said with a gentle smile across her face.

"Oh... Um... Uncle Hiroshi never said that." Atsushi said, slouching down into his own shoulders in an attempt to hide.

"I didn't think so. Alright, so lets find that special spot." She said as she scooted into the middle spot on the bench and right next to him.

Atsushi gulped, "Um... Muro-Chin?... What're you-"

Before he could finish his thought, Tatsuki's soft lips were next to his ear where he could feel every exhale drift over his neck and spread through his hair. He lightly gulped, but stayed perfectly still as she grasped his hand and delicately placed it on top of the gear shift knob.

"Put your foot down." She whispered into his ear, her lips fluttering over his ear lobe.

All he could manage was a nod as he held his breath, suddenly feeling very warm despite the cold inside the dormant truck. All he could do was follow her instructions as his left leg moved and pushed the clutch down and when her hand guided his, he found himself starting it up again with a loud rattle.

"Now... Make sure the truck is in first." She whispered into his ear where the tip of her tongue reached out for his ear lobe.

Atsushi gulped, but did as told as he glanced at the gear shift to see that it was positioned up and to the left, right in the position for first gear.

"M-Muro-Chin... N-now what?" He managed to ask in a low voice as he bit his bottom lip out of nerves.

"Just listen to the sound the truck makes as you let the clutch out slow. She'll talk to you and tell you what she wants." She whispered, softly exhaling a hot breath onto his neck that him shutter.

Atsushi was suddenly having a hard time thinking with the heat of her breath splaying over his neck and feeling her hand resting motionless on his thigh. His heated exhales were drowned out by the throaty rattle of the truck's engine, but it was either focus on her, or her words.

He lolled his head back against the glass window behind him and closed his eyes, listening to the truck idle on without a care as he started to let the clutch out nice and slow like she had said. He focused on that sound, on listening to the truck and with each gentle inch he let the clutch pedal out, he felt her hand sliding towards the inside of his thigh.

The further inwards her hand went, the more his intakes of air stuttered, but when her hand was fully between his legs, gripping the muscle with slightly curled fingers, the truck's engine deepened its note.

"There." She whispered.

Atsushi's eyes opened as he lifted his head, grasping Tatsuki's hand to remove it from his leg, but with the loss of his focus, the truck stalled out. However this time, it didn't jerk them around like it had hit something.

"Huh?... W-What happened?" He asked, swallowing down his nerves as he stayed perfectly still.

"It stalled, but that just means you get to find her g-spot again." Tatsuki cooed, taking his earlobe softly between her teeth to gently suckle on it.

His throat tightened as he tried to hold back his squeak, but some of it spilled out anyways as she flicked the tip of her tongue against his earlobe. A shiver shot down his spine to pool in his abdomen and with each soft suckle, each gentle flick she made to his ear, his focus was shifting from the truck, to her.

"M-Muro-Chin... Stop." Atsushi breathed out as his eyes started to roll into the back of his head.

"Nope... Start the truck." She said through her teasing as she slipped her hand free of his and set it back down on his thigh.

He was almost afraid to move, but at the same time, he was afraid of staying still. The way her tongue was moving and the slight grip her hand was putting on his leg was churning his gut with warm rolls and he could feel low in his abdomen that telltale twitch that made his throat tighten up with a groan.

Atsushi gulped, intent to start the truck again, but when her hand drifted up towards his groin, he flinched and snatched it away before it got too close.

"Okay, Muro-Chin. You need to stop because there is entirely not enough room in this truck for that." Atsushi said, panting a bit from the rising tension in his abdomen as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Hearing the tone in his voice, Tatsuki's lips and tongue stilled, releasing his ear lobe to sit back just a bit and look into his hazy gaze. His eyes were half lidded, blurry as he looked back and his lips were lightly parted with each inhale and exhale of breath that moved his chest. His eyes glistened in the low glow from the porch light, brought on by her ministrations and when she leaned forward to press her lips to his, his grip on her tightened as he pulled her to lay across his lap.

No sooner did her arm wrap around his neck did their tongues shoot out into the others mouth where she felt his tongue bar begin to tease the roof of her mouth. She airily moaned into his mouth as their lips pressed firmer into each other, their tongues sliding forward and back, up and down to taste every inch. She felt his large, splayed out hand drifting around her side to rest on her stomach, just below her breasts and when she felt the tips of his fingers begin to reach out for them, her breath hitched in her throat and she choked on her own saliva.

"Are you okay?" He asked lowly, swallowing down the extra moisture as their lips parted and he looked down at her.

Tatsuki nodded and bit her bottom lip, "Yeah... You're right though; There isn't enough room in here." She smiled.

Atsushi breathed out a smile as he looked towards the passenger side, seeing her long legs jammed up into a ball to avoid pressing into the door. With standing six feet tall, her knees were nearly at the headliner and even though she was laying half across his lap, the standard cab truck was just too small.

"I forgot what we're trying to do." He admitted with a soft blush as he helped her to sit up.

Tatsuki chuckled, "Teaching you to drive this thing."

"How, exactly, was that supposed to teach me how to drive a stick?" He asked, arcing up a brow as he gripped the back of his neck and dried his lips on his muffler.

"Make you focus." She said, shying a bit into her own shoulders as she settled her coat and clicked her seatbelt into place.

"Focus?... The only thing I could focus on was that damn purring you were doing in my ear." He grumbled with a mild glare at her.

"I wasn't purring. That was the truck." She snickered.

"Huh?... Wait... What?" He just sat there and looked at her in confusion.

"You'll see. Start the truck and find the g-spot again." She smiled.

Atsushi just exhaled his uncertainty as he put the clutch to the floor and started the truck again, letting the groaning rumble settle into a calm idle before he started to let the clutch out nice and easy. He listened, this time with both ears, waiting and listening for the sound to change and when it did, dropping deeper into a purr, his foot stopped and held it there.

"There you go... Now, ease on the gas nice and gentle." She said, her smile never fading as he blew out a nervous breath.

Still listening, he began to lower his right leg, drawing up the engine's RPMs slow and surely. He didn't want to rush and risk stalling the truck again, but when his right foot was halfway down, the truck began to crawl forward.

"Good... Keep going like this until the clutch pedal is entirely out. Your left foot should be moving up while your right foot is moving down. The truck tells you what it wants." She said.

He nodded as he kept going, putting more gas on while he let out the clutch and after only another second, his left foot was entirely off the clutch. The truck crawled forward steadily, crunching the snow beneath its tires, but when the engine started to sound as if it was whining, he knew he had to shift gears.

Keeping a hand on the steering wheel, he put the clutch down once more and shifted the gear shift into second, easing the clutch back out as he eased on the gas. The truck slowly accelerated and at Tatsuki's wide smile, he started to feel at ease that now, they could head to the store.

"There you go! The rest comes easy once you know the g-spot." She lightly chuckled as she settled back into the seat to relax.

"Hell of a way to teach, Muro-Chin. I'm flustered thanks to you." He joked, sending her a short lived glare as he put the clutch in and began to slow, drawing close to the end of the driveway.

"I'm sorry, but it worked didn't it?" She asked with a knowing smile.

Atsushi put the truck in neutral as he slowly braked, "Sure, but I'm getting a different problem now. I wasn't expecting you to do that."

Tatsuki's cheeks began to turn pink, "To be honest, neither was I." She said quietly as her smile faded and she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Huh?... How come?" He asked, focusing on the sound of the truck to set off again and turn out onto the plowed road towards town.

"I-It just kinda happened. It felt right, you know?" She stuttered, opting to look down into her lap instead of at him.

"I wasn't complaining, but it's too cramped in here for much more than talking." He said as he shifted into second.

Tatsuki nodded, "Believe me... I understand." Her cheeks burned with her blush.

"Is something else bothering you?" He asked as he shifted up into third with smooth, coordinated movements of his feet.

"Not really." She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear as she avoided his brief glances.

"Muro-Chin... What's wrong? Did I do something?" He asked.

"Of course not, Atsu," she sighed, "Lately, I've just been feeling like... like I wanna _show_ you I love you." She finally admitted.

Atsushi's eyes started to widen, "Show me?... You show me all the time. I know you love me and you know I love you." He said as he shifted up and kept his eyes on the road and the graying sky.

"I do, but all the sweets and kisses and cuddles and such aren't what I mean." She said, managing to look over at him as he carefully drove.

"Then what-... Oh!... Oh, _that's_ what you mean. Huh... Well, I know _someone_ who wouldn't argue." He lightly cleared his throat, resting his wrist on top of the steering wheel just like he had seen his uncle do.

Tatsuki lightly chuckled, "Can I ask you something?"

"You know you don't need to ask me that, Muro-Chin" He said flatly.

"Have you ever... um... have you ever-"

"Gotten laid?" Atsushi interrupted her to spare her the effort.

"Yeah." She nodded with a sigh of relief.

"Depends on your definition, I guess." He said with a brief glance at her.

Tatsuki's brows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"I've had a blow job, or two, but that's the most I've ever had." He said with a final shift up into fifth gear to cruise down the road.

"I guess that counts." She said quietly as she reached forward to turn on the truck's heater.

"What about you?" He asked suddenly.

Tatsuki's blush deepened, "I've um... I've never... I'm a virgin." She buried her face into her scarf.

"Why hide?" He asked, briefly shooting glances at her as he reached over and pulled her scarf down with his pointer finger.

"Because I don't want you to think differently of me." She said without lifting her mouth out from behind her scarf.

"Why would I look at you any differently for not being a floozy and just throwing yourself at some guy?" He asked with a scoff.

"I don't know... I just-" She said as she avoided his gaze.

"Muro-Chin." He said.

"B-Because I'd be really sad if we broke up over something like that." She finally blurted out.

"Have I done something that would make you think that?" He asked with the tension of driving ebbing off now that he had a few miles under his belt.

"Not at all. Just my own worry, I guess." She said.

Seeing the somewhat distant look on her face, Atsushi just drew in a long intake of air as he spared a moment to watch her. She wouldn't look at him, opting to just look ahead out the windshield, or the side window, but it seemed to him that she was making quite the effort not to meet his gaze. Despite their subject, he didn't feel uneasy, or put off, but rather, wanted to make her feel better and as the truck happily trundled along with him at the helm, he reached over and undid her seatbelt with a click.

"Huh?... Atsu-" Tatsuki began, only to quiet herself when he tugged her across the bench.

The tall gear shift in the middle of the cab didn't seem to matter as he pulled her over, sliding her across the bench seat until she was nestled up right next to him all snug and warm.

"There... That's better." He said, smiling at her as he draped his arm over her shoulder and kept a hand on the steering wheel.

Tatsuki blushed even more, "Atsu... Are you gonna be okay shifting with me here?" She snuggled into his side.

"I'll be fine. This is better anyways. It's warmer." He said, never even easing his smile as the first distant stoplight began to break through the gray.

Tatsuki snuggled in close and rested her head on his shoulder, both settling into a quiet calm despite the continuous drone of the engine. It was comforting being so close to him, how he smiled at her and kept his arm around her shoulders as he drove. His ability to learn hadn't ceased to amaze her the more time they spent together, and after only a few short minutes, he had picked up driving a stick shift without a problem. She watched the scenery go by, the sky darken and just by the dull gray color of the clouds, she knew snow was coming. The air smelt electric and frosty and as the town in distance broke through that gray, she slightly frowned that she would soon have to move from the warm confines of his body.

Taking his arm back, Atsushi rested his palm down on the gear shift and began to slow for the light, not even phased by the oncoming traffic, or their headlights that blared through the darkening gray. He shifted into first to get ready to set off, but only then did he notice that when it came time to shift into second, there was no way to avoid touching her leg.

With a soft gulp, he started off and shifted into second where his palm touched down onto her thigh. He felt her stiffen a bit, but she made no effort to move as he flowed with the speed of traffic and let his hand move up to the top of her thigh where he slowly ran it up closer to her hip. He glanced at her, seeing her cheeks darken with a hard blush that was creeping up to reach her ears, but her bottom lip was softly trapped between her teeth. He could see her taking in shortened breaths and as his hand started to move further up her leg, his fingers lightly clawed to dig into the muscle where his own body started to shiver with that delightful warmth.

"Oh!... You're gonna miss the turn, Atsu!" Tatsuki yelped as the store quickly approached.

However, instead of slamming on the breaks to try and make it, Atsushi kept going straight as he took his hand off her thigh and put it back onto the gear shift.

"That's okay. We'll turn around and turn in then. The roads aren't good." He said, slowing for the next light.

"Good idea. Sorry about that." Tatsuki said softly as she rubbed her cheeks.

"It's okay. We were distracted." He said as he buried his nose into his scarf.

Tatsuki just nodded as Atsushi turned around and headed back towards the store, this time slowing with plenty of time to pull into the parking lot without whipping the truck from side to side. With the headlights being on, the first delicate flecks of snow were highlighted in their yellow beams as they fell and with a slow idle, he picked an aisle to drive down in an attempt to find a parking spot.

"We better get what we need and head back. Looks like the snow's not gonna hold off." Tatsuki said as Atsushi picked a wide open parking spot and parked.

"You have the list?" He asked, switching off the headlights and turning off the truck just like he had seen his uncle do.

"I do. Come on." Tatsuki said.

Atsushi climbed out of the truck, but instead of shutting his door, he turned and offered his hand to help Tatsuki slide out. She happily took his hand and smiled at him as her booted feet touched down and after shutting the door behind her, they headed for the store hand in hand.

"So, what's first?" Atsushi asked, releasing her hand to pick a cart that he hoped had all its wheels working.

Tatsuki dug around in her pockets and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper that she flipped open and skimmed over.

"Um... Well, lets start with the obvious. We're gonna need sugar." She said, still reading the paper.

"Bakers, or table top?" He asked, deciding on the best one he saw and pulling it out from the others.

"Ooo-... Good question... Um... Let's use regular table top. We're gonna have to melt it anyways." She said as they headed deeper into the store and headed for the baking aisle.

"Okay... Did you get the peppermint leaves from that one herb store?" He asked, letting her lead the cart by the front.

"I did. I just got a couple bushels for right now until we figure out how this test batch comes out." She said, turning down the aisle they needed that was laden with flour, sugar, spices, mixes and everything in between.

"That's fine... Oh hey; Don't we need coloring and vinegar?" He asked, stopping as he spotted the small box of little colored bottles.

"We do. Grab a box and I'll get a bottle of vinegar." She said as she trotted ahead.

Atsushi took a moment to watch her, how she smiled and had been since he had pulled her over to sit next to him in the truck. There was a bounce in her step, each bound swaying her long black hair from side to side and when she looked back at him to widen her smile, that warm shiver shot down his spine again. Her eyes sparkled at him, her smile made the world nonexistence and remembering the words they had spoken in the truck, he found himself stepping closer to the door.

Despite it only having been a few months, he felt his heart truly falling deeper and deeper into her grasp, clutched in her delicate hands for her to keep. She understood him, didn't judge him and loved him despite all he's told her and the way she blushed at him, the way she felt self conscious about not having laid with anyone he found rather endearing and cute. She truly didn't want him to think of her any differently and the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't. If anything, it made him want to make her happy all that much more.

Atsushi quickly shook his head to clear the front of his mind so he could focus on the task at hand, picking up a box of coloring and putting it into the cart as she returned with a bottle of vinegar. She smiled at him with the slightest coloring of a blush along her cheekbones and as he smiled at her, she started for the collection of sugar. There was brown sugar of different shades, baker's sugar, even natural cane sugar and sugar cubes. There was more exotic sugars and sugar substitutes, but all they needed was regular sugar, which was located on the bottom shelf of all things.

Grabbing two cartons, Tatsuki set them into their small cart before scratching the sugar off the list, and with one more stop at the spices further down the aisle, they found the peppermint flavoring to complete their list.

With their items for the test batch gathered, they headed for the check out and paid the required amount before heading for the door, but when they reached the exit, they froze and could only stare.

From just the short amount of time they had spent in the store, the snow had begun to fall in a steady flutter. The flakes were big and fluffy, but the air had chilled down to a bitter cold. Both knew what was coming and they needed to get back to the truck before the weather got too bad.

"We better go. This might be a bad one, Atsu." Tatsuki said with worry along her brows as she hunkered down into her coat and stepped out into the snow.

"Can you drive the truck? I don't think taking on a snow storm my first day is a good idea." Atsushi said as he followed her.

"That's fine. We're headed back to your uncle's house right?" She asked, carrying one of the shopping bags with the smaller items in it.

"Yes... Oh, I think I forgot something in the store. Can I meet you back at the truck?" He asked, stopping and holding out the bag with the sugar cartons in it.

"Huh?... Oh um, sure. Is everything okay?" She asked as she took the bag.

"Of course. I'll just be a minute." He said before turning and heading back into the store.

Tatsuki only watched him for a moment until he was out of sight, having disappeared back through the automated doors of the store before she shivered and started for the truck. The snow was already beginning to accumulate on the ground, leaving the subtle outline of her boots every time she lifted her foot to take another step. It softly crunched and groaned as she walked for the truck and having gotten the keys from Atsushi before he headed back inside, she unlocked the door and put their couple of bags on the floor before stepping into the driver's seat.

Having driven a stick plenty of times, she easily started to grumpy old truck and let it idle, thanking the hidden stars above that they hadn't spent too much time in the store to allow the engine to cool off too much. She cranked on the heat full blast to warm the inside of the cab, flicking on the wipers to clear away the thin dusting of snow and turning the defroster on so the newly falling flakes would immediately melt. She buckled herself in and waited, just watching out the windows as families and people came and went, scurrying inside as fast as possible so the snow didn't have time to creep down their coats. The air light flakes softly blew around as a wind began to build and getting nervous, her leg began to bounce with impatience.

Just as she started to get worried that the weather was closing in on them, Atsushi reappeared out through the doors and jogged for the truck. His hands were stuffed into his pockets and nose buried in his scarf and with his giant strides, he reached the truck in no time and slid into the passenger seat.

"Sorry, Muro-Chin. Lets get going." He said, heavily shutting the door and swiping his hand over his hair to rid it of snowflakes.

"Yeah... The weather's getting bad." She said, putting the truck into reverse and backing out of the spot.

"Think it'll be a blizzard?" He asked.

"Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time we've gotten socked in here." She said, swiftly shifting the truck into first and starting for the exit of the parking lot.

"It happens in Akita a lot too." He said, softly sniffling through his nose that had begun to run with the cold.

"I remember you telling me. What did you forget in the store?" She asked with a brief glance over at him.

"Just something I needed to pick up. Nothing to worry about." He smiled.

Tatsuki smiled back, "Alright."

As Tatsuki turned the truck out into traffic to head home, the snow began to lightly blow, glowing like tiny lightning bugs in front of the headlights as they were carried by the growing wind. Traffic had slowed to accommodate the deteriorating conditions and as Atsushi turned on the radio, a simple, yet very much aftermarket radio, the static cleared to give way to the weather report.

 _"The snow is already starting to come down folks, so getting home and hunkering down is a real good idea. The radar has this cell as a real powerful one, so we're expecting anywhere between 12 inches, to a whopping 3 feet of snow overnight. City plows and road maintenance crews are already heading out to get an early start on road conditions and power crews are standing by just in case power lines come down with the deep freeze. The weather survey has officially issued a winter storm advisory, so head home, hunker down and enjoy a nice evening in everyone. Be safe out there."_

Atsushi clicked off the radio as Tatsuki passed through the intersection on their way out of town, whose green glow of light was fogged out by the blowing snow. The windshield wipers streaked back and forth, swiping away the snow that didn't instantly melt upon touching down onto the heated glass. Even with the heat on, they could still feel the chill of the air radiating through the glass and seeping through the tiny imperfections in the way the door lined up with the body. Tatsuki drove with both hands on the steering wheel, cautious and careful, always moving her head around so that she knew exactly what was around them at all times. The snow fell thicker, harder, the wind picked up its speed and when they finally reached his uncle's driveway, the road was completely gone, hidden beneath a building blanket of snow.

"Just in time, I'd say. This storm is gonna be a good one." Tatsuki said as she pulled the truck to a stop in front of the house.

"No kidding. Is your mom gonna come and pick you up?" Atsushi asked, picking up the bags and daring to open the door.

"I don't know. I'll call her when we get inside." She said, shutting her door hard and rushing for the porch right alongside him.

Atsushi just nodded as he fished out the keys and unlocked the door, stepping inside where he held it open for her and shut it with a click of the deadbolt. He flicked on the light to push back the dark shadows of the hallway before toeing off his boots, letting Tatsuki take the bags to the kitchen ahead of him as he pulled off his scarf and coat. He shook out his hair from clinging snow and as he ran his fingers through it to straighten it out, he slipped on his house shoes and started for the kitchen where Tatsuki was already on the phone.

"Yeah... We just got back... Oh, I know. The roads are already bad... We're safe here... Yeah, we still have power... Okay, we will... Love you too, Mom... Bye."

She hung up the phone and set it down on the kitchen table before swooshing her bangs over her left eye and straightening out her snow touched raven locks. Her cheeks were still pink, but he knew that it was because of the wind and cold, and not because she was blushing.

"What she say?" He asked, heading over to the counter to pull out the things they had bought.

"She said to stay safe and that she'll pick me up in the morning." She said, draping her coat over the back of a chair.

Atsushi's back stiffened, "Y-You're staying the night?" He looked back over his shoulder at her.

Tatsuki nodded, "Looks like it. Is that okay?" She asked as she looked over to him.

"What am I gonna say? No? It's a full blown blizzard out there, Muro-Chin; I'm not gonna make you walk home." He said with a crooked grin, pulling the twin cartons of sugar from the bag.

"Good... Because that walk would suck." She airily laughed.

His smile matured into a full arc, and after pulling out the bottle of vinegar, he turned his attention to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. His smile continued as he gazed down at her, falling into her kind gray eye and with a drift of his finger, he pushed aside her swept bangs to reveal her left. He felt privileged, like he was special because he got to see both her eyes and now that he was gazing down at both, he could see that her smile reached them.

"So, let me get this straight. We're gonna spend the evening making sweets, then I get to spend tons of time with Muro-Chin because of the blizzard?" He asked with a hop in his eyebrows.

"And gets to spend the night because of that very same blizzard." She smiled, snaking her arms around his trunk to hold him close.

"I love blizzards." He grinned.

He bowed his head as Tatsuki stretched her neck, meeting in the middle to press their lips together. That warm shiver shot down his spine again as his hold on her tightened, bringing her ever closer to his body to relish in her warmth. His throat hummed, vibrating his lips against hers and when their lips parted with a soft crackle, she rubbed his back and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Lets start on trying out those candy canes." She said as she unwound her arms.

"Muro-Chin and sweets. Best. Night. Ever."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Author's Note: NSFW**

The snow and darkness had completely taken over outside, spreading an unending spread of white that dampened all sound. The wind whipped the icy flakes all around as if pulled by static, being tugged in all directions to make it impossible to even see the harvested fields next to the house. The animals had been tucked away to weather the storm and when the daylight had finally given way to night, the blizzard kicked into high gear.

However, where outside could surely spell death if one were to stay out too long, inside the home, it was safe and warm. The whole house smelt of peppermint and warm sugar and ever since starting their experiment of attempting to make candy canes, not a single burn was received. They had melted the sugar, added the ingredients as the recipe had said and once the gooey concoction was the right consistency, they rolled the thick and hot candy on baking mats until it was ready to twist the two colors together.

When all was said and done, they had twelve red and white candy canes cooling on the counter, complete with the hooks at the top.

"Well damn... They sure look like candy canes to me, Atsu. What do you think?" Tatsuki asked, admiring their handy work as she washed her hands in the sink.

"They smell really good. Nice and clean and the sugar melted nicely. It didn't bubble." Atsushi said, dusting his hands off on a kitchen towel as he leaned down to examine the canes.

"I was scared it was going to, but nice and steady worked really well. I think when we go for making more, we'll use the same process." She said, shooting him a gentle smile back over her shoulder.

Atsushi nodded, "We can make them a couple days ahead of time. How long does the recipe say it'll take for them to cool?" He asked, taking his turn at the sink to wash his hands.

"Um... a few hours I think. I don't wanna rush it and the inside needs to cool all the way till the sugar is white again. If at all possible, I wouldn't even decorate them until the next day." She said, softly rubbing his back as she rested her chin down on his arm.

Atsushi's soft smile broadened, "Then a couple days ahead of time, we can make a bunch if these turn out." He kissed the top of her head and turned off the water.

"Sounds perfect... Now, we wait." She said, patting his arm as she started for the fridge.

However, she only made it a few steps until a large hand gently grasped her wrist and pulled her back, where a long arm wrapped around her once she had reached a broad, strong and chiseled chest.

"What sorcery is this?... The great Atsushi Murasakibara preventing someone from making him food?" She acted shocked as she looked up at him with a fake gasp.

"I'm tired. Lets rest for a little bit. It's still kinda early anyways." He said, keeping her tight against him as he started to waddle them towards the living room.

"Atsu!" Tatsuki laughed, but put up very little resistance as he guided them through the entryway of the kitchen.

Suddenly, the wind buffeted hard outside, broadsiding the house as if it was a barn door. It howled, screamed as it whipped the snow, churning it as if it was in a blender and as the lights began to lightly flicker, they just stopped and watched the lights go out.

The storm had claimed the power.

"Well, shit... At least we finished making them." She sighed, staying where she was pressed up against him.

"I think Uncle Hiroshi has some candles around here somewhere." He said, his eyes squinting to see through the almost unnatural darkness until his eyes adjusted.

"I'm sure he does. Go look in the kitchen and I'll look at getting a fire started." She said, patting his chest.

Atsushi nodded as if she could see it, bowing his head to bring his lips to her forehead for a quick peck before rubbing her arms and returning to the kitchen. He kept his hand along the wall and took slow steps, making sure not to bump into anything, but when a hard flash of blue light briefly lit up the kitchen that was shortly followed by a snap of snow thunder, he jumped from the suddenness of it.

"Thundersnow?... Wow... It's been awhile since that happened." He heard Tatsuki say from the living room.

"I've only ever heard of it on TV. Do we need to worry?" He called back over his shoulder, using the brief moment of light to avoid the kitchen table and head towards the sink.

"No!... It's just thunder and lightning. Nothing to worry about!" She called back.

Atsushi nodded just out of reflex as he set his hands down on the counter in front of the sink, kneeling down and opening the cabinet doors to search for some candles. There were cleaning chemicals, trash bags, a few odds and ends, but tucked away in the back, his long fingers grazed over the tall candles that were as big around as a tree branch.

He pulled them out, being five in total, and began to set them down. He placed one on the kitchen table, one in the hallway so they could easily find the bathroom if need be and the rest in the living room that was cast in an ultra low glow of orange from the fresh flames building in the fireplace. They were still mostly blue, but as she placed more chopped logs onto the freshly caught kindling, their orange glow brightened and cast the living room into a soft light that was accented with long shadows from the furniture.

"I need matches, Muro-Chin." He said dully, setting one of the candles down on a side table next to the entryway of the living room.

"I'll get them. Keep an eye on the fire for a minute." She said, the light highlighting her soft smile as she cleaned her hands on her pants and went to the kitchen.

He watched her go for a moment before setting the two remaining candles down; One being on the lamp table on one side of the couch and the other on the coffee table. With the power out, the fire would help keep the house warm and while he waited for Tatsuki to return with the matches, he pulled a few blankets from the back of the couch for them to wrap up in.

She soon returned and lit the candles, and with one last check of the fire to make sure it was building nicely, she plopped down on the couch with a soft sigh.

"Looks like all we can do is just sit and wait." She said, wrapping her arms around her knees as she brought them to her chest.

"That's okay. Muro-Chin is here, so I'll be plenty warm and snuggled." He smiled, sitting down next to her and scooping her up so she sat in his lap.

Tatsuki giggled as she uncurled herself, wrapping her arms around his neck as he shifted to lay down with her laying on top of him. The blankets were tucked against the armrest, filling the space between his back and the couch and as his head rested down against the armrest, he smiled at her and swept her long bangs aside with a fingertip.

"I like making candy canes." He said, interlacing his fingers together and resting his hands against the small of her back.

"It's a process. That's for sure." She said, smiling back as she rested her chin down on his chest.

"No... I like making them because if it leads to this, I'll make them all day." He said, letting his outside leg fall from the couch to rest his foot on the floor.

Tatsuki softly chuckled, "Fair enough. What do you wanna do now?" She asked, turning her head to rest her ear down and watch the fire, hearing his heart and how it barely stuttered at her words.

She was content to just lay there and watch the flames, snuggled close and wrapped in his arms, but when his knuckle gently rapped against her chin, lifting her head so she would look at him, she saw his half lidded eyes and the ultra gentle smile across his lips that made her heart flutter.

"I wanna make Muro-Chin happy." He said softly, his peppermint scented breath drifting over her face that made her take in a deep inhale.

"I am." She said in just above a whisper.

"No... I wanna make you happy and show you that I love you too." He said, brushing her bangs aside once more with a long finger.

For once, Tatsuki was grateful for the darkness and orange light, as it helped to hide her blush that instantly colored her cheeks. Her stomach flipped and her heart stuttered, but as she looked into his calm, warm eyes, she felt at ease with the idea.

"Yeah?" She exhaled.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... I tried not to think about it, but-... but it feels right to me too. I'll understand if you don't want to, but-"

"I want to. No matter what happens, I want my first to be you." She said, reaching up to drift her fingers gently down his cheek.

Atsushi's cheeks began to burn while her fingers drifted down, traveling over his jaw to flutter down his neck. He sucked in a sharp breath as he swallowed passed the squeeze in his chest, watching her as she watched her fingers travel down to his collarbone where they changed course and headed for the hollow of his neck. Her touch was so soft that it felt like air, so gentle that he thought he was imagining it and when the pad of her finger dipped into his neck's hollow, he let his head sink back against the armrest and closed his eyes.

With his eyes closed, he was hyper aware of the weight of her laying over him and when he felt the hot slide of her tongue lap into that very same divot, he airily gasped as his hand floated up her back.

"M-Muro-Chin-" His exhaled breath carried as she almost too slowly licked and suckled along the length of his collarbone.

"I really like it when you say that." She said, exhaling a long heated breath over his skin that she felt pimple with gooseflesh.

"Keep doing that and you'll hear it more often." He said lowly, looking down to watch her kiss along his clothed chest.

She hummed at his words as she continued her path, traveling up his neck where he lolled it to the side to give her the most amount of room to make him shiver. His whole body was warm, almost vibrating from just her lips and as his other hand began to drift up, his fingers hooked beneath her sweater to feel how hot her own skin felt.

"You're really warm." He whispered, his eyes still closed as his throat lightly moaned from her lips claiming his earlobe.

"So are you." She said through her ministrations.

His lips parted as he took in much needed air to keep him from getting light headed, and when she released his ear to kiss along his jaw, he turned his head towards her where their lips met. It was in that same moment that their tongues shot out to greet each other, sliding up and down their lengths where Tatsuki's flicked the titanium bar stuck through his tongue. He moaned into her mouth as a hand softly gripped the nape of her neck, his fingers lacing into her long raven hair that was soft and smelt of vanilla. He tightened his hold on her as their tongues explored and as her hand pressed down into his chest where his muscle didn't give, her fingers clawed to dig as she turned her hand so her fingers pointed down.

He wasn't paying much attention to her hand, completely distracted by the work her tongue was doing to his mouth, but when he felt the gentle tickle of her fingers against his skin, fluttering over his abdomen, he hissed and stiffened as their lips separated to allow him to airily pant.

He wanted to speak, wanted to use his voice, but no amount of air he was putting over his vocal cords would produce it. All he could manage was a soft moan as he watched her through half-lidded and blurry eyes and when her fingers began to dip beneath the top of his pants, that panting breath suddenly caught in his throat.

Tatsuki's stomach was in a complete knot, but watching him, seeing the rising pleasure displayed on his face, she was motivated to keep going. Her heart thundered, not from fear, but rather sheer want. She wanted this, was drawn to it and with wanting to see him express his pleasure even more, she dove her fingers deeper into his pants.

Despite never having laid with anyone, she knew well enough to know what hid within his pant's confines, but what she wasn't expecting, was to feel a length of hard flesh she swore was as long as her forearm.

"Oh... my... god." She gasped, her eyes widening as she watched his mouth open more with a gasp.

"W-What?" He choked out, his head rolling back against the armrest as he moaned up towards the ceiling.

"Is that... Is this for real?" She asked, shocked as her fingers curled around his length where she felt it twitch at her touch.

Atsushi's brows furrowed, "What were you expecting? I'm 6'10. You couldn't have thought I was gonna be the size of a pencil." He said, his breath still coming and going from his lungs as his abs flexed with a heated fire.

Tatsuki blushed, "I mean... Well... True, but still. I believe the term 'hung like a horse' is appropriate here." She huffed a short smile before biting her bottom lip.

His eyebrows hopped, "Damn straight."

Tatsuki's throat rattle with a sultry laugh as she sat up, still with her hand down his pants as she pushed up his t-shirt to expose his stomach. Even in the low ambient light of the crackling fire, she could see all his muscle flexing and twitching, igniting a boiling burn in her own abdomen that traveled south. She bit her bottom lip as she watched his pleasured face and as she began to unbuckle his belt, he let his arms lay limp at his sides as he moaned out his pleasure.

She released his still hidden length to unzip his pants, still watching him pant up towards the ceiling and when she tugged them open, revealing him to be a boxer briefs man, that impressive length became visible as it pushed its way through the hole to lay heavy against his stomach.

"Holy. Shit." She gasped, cupping a hand over her mouth as she fluttered her fingers from head to base along the thick vein.

At her touch, Atsushi flinched hard as he let out a long drawl of a moan, boiling from within and his head was so muddled, so clouded just by her touch that he knew it was too late to stop. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, but despite his blurry vision and hazy mind, he saw her begin to lean over as she gathered her hair and pulled it over a shoulder.

"No!" He yelped, his hands shooting out to grasp her shoulders and stop her.

"What's wrong?" She asked, biting her bottom lip some more as she began to feel self-conscious.

"I don't... I don't want a blow job from you." He exhaled, his breath catching in his throat as his hands fell down her arms.

"O-Oh... Then what do you want-" She tried, only to be cut off when his arms wrapped around her waist.

With his impressive strength, Atsushi sat up and brought her to his chest, continuing to roll forward until she laid back against the opposite armrest. He knelt between her legs while his hands roamed over her stomach and around her sides and while one rested against her stomach, his other floated over her hips to hook beneath her thigh.

Tatsuki was boiling inside with a building tension between her legs, but she wasn't deterred by the thought of being with him and that he was lifting her leg to rest against his hip. His face was filled with pleasure, yet kind and it helped to ease her nervousness of what she was about to do. She wanted to, wanted to feel him, be with him and experience what truly burned inside her heart.

All she could manage was a softly moan as she bit her knuckle, hyper aware of his touch as his hand ran up her leg to grip her ass. He pushed his other hand up along her stomach, lifting her shirt in the process and when her bra became exposed to his violet eyes, she laid her arm beneath her breasts to squeeze them together and make them look bigger.

"No... Muro-Chin's boobs are better the way they are." He said, lifting her arm off her stomach to let her modest chest lay as naturally as the plain purple bra would allow.

"R-Really? I'm not too small?" She asked, letting her arms lay above her head and over the armrest.

"No. They're perfect. If they're too big, there's too much to work with and everything gets sloppy." He said, laying down to cover her and bring his face down to her chest.

She exhaled a smile without even letting her lip pop free from between her teeth as she watched him slide his hands up her ribs to hook his fingers under her bra, pushing it up nice and slow as if he was unwrapping the most fragile of presents. He smiled at her through half-lidded eyes and just when her breasts were about to be freed, he stopped and exhaled a hot breath over her skin.

"Ready?" He asked, dropping his head just enough to run the tip of his tongue along the rounded bulge of her breasts.

Tatsuki shivered and moaned, but was only able to make herself nod as she lifted her hands to lace her fingers into his purple hair. She heard him moan at her touch as his hands began to push up and with a stiff abrasiveness from the under wire, it grazed over her pert nipples as her breasts fell free of her bra's confines.

She blushed hard, but relished in the warmth that was radiating all over her body as he licked up her breast to her nipple, kissing the cherry pink nub before wrapping his lips around it. She moaned at the hypersensitivity, feeling even the slightest suck as he tugged it up with the slightest of pressure. Despite being a very large man, he was surprisingly gentle, more the fluid snake than a charging bull and with each soft suck, each gentle nip, it all served to make her writhe beneath him with more and more want.

"A-Atsu-" she breathed, "Your mouth feels so good." She moaned, her breath falling down her chest with each heated exhale.

All he did was hum as he let her nipple slip free to turn his attention to the other that was aching to be the center of attention. He wasted no time in sucking it into his mouth, running the ball of his tongue bar over it where it immediately went ridged from pleasure. He relished in the soft moan that escaped her throat and when her lightly clawed fingers began to dig into his scalp, a hot shiver shot straight down his spine to make his throbbing length twitch.

"Nah... Apparently, I like slight pain." He moaned out, releasing her nipple to sit up and rest his hands down on her thighs.

"Yeah?... I like what you do with that tongue bar." She said, running her hands down over her breasts and down her stomach to begin to unbuckle her pants.

However, Atsushi's hands stopped her and gently pushed them aside where his fingers took over, easily unbuckling her belt and unbuttoning the top of her pants. He watched her the whole time as he pulled down the zipper, looking for any form of uncertainty in her and only to see none. She was completely confident, sure of what they were doing and knowing that, he began to tug her pants down off her hips.

"I don't have anything fancy. I'm sorry if you don't like them." She said, nibbling her bottom lip as she raised her legs so Atsushi could pull off her pants.

"They're purple. They match your bra. I like them." He said, dropping her pants to the floor beside the couch.

"I wanted to look nice for you." She said, letting her arm lay limp above her head and arced over the armrest.

"You don't need to dress nice to look good to me." He said, laying back over her as his fingertips began to explore her newly exposed skin.

Tatsuki softly chuckled, "You're smooth with words." She cooed, watching his eyes following his hand down her body.

"Hopefully I'm not just all talk." He hummed as his fingers drifted over her abdomen and along the top of her purple panties.

Tatsuki shivered as his fingers dared to go lower and lower, sliding further and further below her panties where they drifted over the groomed patch of short hair. She softly gasped the lower his fingers crawled and when a long, daring and sure finger found her womanhood, she hissed a short breath that quickly turned into a moan.

"It's so sensitive." She moaned, gripping the armrest of the couch just for something to remind herself that everything around her wasn't a dream.

Atsushi dropped his head to claim a nipple, sucking in a long breath as he softly suckled the sensitive nub of pink flesh. She squirmed beneath him as the pad of his finger caressed the heated mound of flesh between her legs, her throat exhaling a long mull of a moan that was tinged with the crackle from the fire's flames.

"Let me know if it's too much." He said lowly, running his tongue bar over her nipple to make it burn with sensation.

"It's not... If anything it makes me want more." She moaned out between her panting breath, watching him through her blurry gaze as he played with her breasts with his mouth.

"Good... Because I'm aching for more." He growled out in a low voice, far deeper than what he usually used.

At his words, his deep tone, she moaned more as his finger caressed lower, only then realizing that that burning ache she had felt had produced a thick wet coating that slicked over his finger with each pass. She was alight with want, with that tight ache that boiled low in her body and the more his finger stroked, the closer it got to slipping inside.

"All I need is your word." Atsushi hummed, his teeth and lips vibrating against the pert pink nub in his mouth.

Tatsuki sighed her moan and just nodded, unable to speak as her whole body twitched and quivered at his touch. His finger glided smoothly over her slicked flesh, drawing all of her attention as her legs fell open further just so his hand had plenty of room. She tried watching him, tried to keep him in focus, but as his incredibly long, skilled finger found her soaked core, it began to slide inside.

"Oh my god, Atsu-" She mulled out, her head turning to the side as she bit down on her knuckle in an attempt to keep her voice down.

"Fuck, you're nervous. You okay?" He asked, keeping his finger as still as possible as it sunk down all the way to the joint.

He was right. Tatsuki was shaking from not just passion, but nerves and a firmly seated and throbbing ache from deep inside her abdomen. It was just enough to make her lightly wince as his finger slowly stroked her internally, but beneath that ache, that slight pain, was a pulse of pleasure that made her wince shift into an airy moan.

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine. It only slightly hurts." She said, her mouth soft and her words carried on her panting breath.

"I heard this helps come time to-... You know." He said, lapping his tongue against her nipple before turning his attention to her heated skin along her neck.

Tatsuki only nodded as she wrapped her arms around his trunk, threading them beneath his arms to grip his shoulders. She needed the reminder that she wasn't dreaming, wasn't imagining things and with each twitch of his finger, she gasped and held him tighter. He was so warm, so heated and as her hands loosened their hold and trailed up his neck to lace her fingers into his hair, his lips vibrated with a deep moan she didn't know he had.

"I'm ready, Atsu... I'm ready." She cooed, sliding her hands down to grip either side of his jaw to bring his face up to meet hers.

"You're sure? I know I'm uh... I'm kinda a lot to take in." He said, still lightly panting as his half-lidded eyes scanned her face.

"I'm sure." She whispered, then swallowed her breath.

With his own nod, Atsushi slowly withdrew his finger, sliding its pad along her slick walls until he felt the coolness of the air touching his wet skin. Her panties were soaked through and warm from her body and as he sat up, still knelt between her legs and grasped the top of her panties, he slowly pulled them down her hips.

Tatsuki just laid there with her arms above her head, watching him pull her legs up to lean them against the front of his shoulder and pull off her panties. He let them fall to the floor alongside her pants, keeping an arm wrapped around her legs as he pushed his own pants down, fully exposing his entire length that pointed right at her. Without the confines of his clothes, she got her first true sense of just how hung he was and in all honesty, he was proportional to his height. If he had stood at average height, he'd hang to his knees, but being a 6'10 titan of a teenager, it hung normally. Either way, it was a thick length of hot flesh that was solid and ready.

"You're impressive." She exhaled, biting her bottom lip as Atsushi maneuvered a leg to his other side so he was once again between them.

"I just hope I don't hurt you. I'd worry if you were a small girl, but you're tall like me." He said lowly, running both his hands up and down her body to explore every inch of her skin.

"I guess we'll see." She said with a brief smile, squirming beneath his delicate touch as her belly scolded with want.

Atsushi bit his bottom lip, watching her twitch and writhe at his touch, but he knew he had to get up and get to his coat before they could go any further. He wasn't going to push her, as he truly did care about her and their relationship, but having heard her words in the truck, he had wanted to be prepared; Just in case.

"Wait here. I'll be right back." He said, running his tongue over his upper lip to by him another moment to touch her.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I just gotta get something." He said as he stood up and stepped out of his pants before pulling off his t-shirt.

Tatsuki only watched him head out of the living room, how the huge swath of his bare back was set aglow by the firelight and danced over his toned skin. Bared to her eyes, he was a monolith of muscle and rippled flesh, of smooth steel that was powerful, yet gentle. Every inch of him was toned, pert and defined and as he returned, she finally took note of the small box in his hand.

"Is that what you bought at the store?" She asked, never taking his eyes off him as he knelt back down between her legs and began opening the box.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah. I didn't wanna get caught without them." He said as he pulled out a small wrapped square that was metallic purple.

"Good idea." She smiled.

Atsushi put the corner of the square into his mouth and tore it open while his other hand stroked his length, making sure he was as hard as possible before pulling out the rolled condom from its package. He glanced at her for a moment before bringing the condom to his length's head and with just a few strokes, he rolled it down until his whole length was sheathed.

"Ready?" He asked as he picked up his t-shirt and cleaned off his hands from the goo that was slathered all over the condom.

Tatsuki nodded, "Yeah."

He could feel his heart hammering in his chest, but when he was about to lean back over her, she had beat him to the punch. She sat up and pushed herself up onto her knees, placing her hands down onto his shoulders to push him back to sit on the couch as she swung a leg over his hips to straddle his lap. His hands drifted up her exposed thighs, rolling over her hips and up her back to where her bra was bunched against her shoulders and found its clasp. He unhooked the garment and pulled it off her, taking her t-shirt with it so she was fully bared before him and without a single article of clothing between them, his violet eyes got to see all 6 feet of her perfectly silky skin.

His lips parted with a breathless gasp, Tatsuki leaned down to claim his lips where their tongues immediately resumed their battle and slid unbroken lines over the other. He hummed as he felt her hands claw down his chest and when she delicately grasped his length, his muscles twitched with the anticipation. He felt the heat of her warmth even through the protection and when she brought its head to rest against her folds, he parted their lips just so he could watch her face.

Tatsuki was nervous, but driven to continue by the tension low in her abdomen. She began to sink herself down, holding her breath as she guided him through the threshold and ignored the pain rising between her legs. She had touched herself before, but never internally, never passing the pink mound that never failed to drive her nuts, but getting to experience being filled to such a degree was thrilling, exotic and euphoric. The slickness made him slide into her with ease, inch by inch and when she began to feel a tight resistance, she slowed and started to breathe again.

In that moment, she felt a tear that made her suck in a loud gasp, but where she was expecting the pain to stay, it near immediately vanished, leaving behind only pleasure and the feeling of him inside her. She could feel him twitch, feel the heat of him coming off his skin from within her and with each breath she took, her internal muscles would wrap around him tightly and slowly release.

His face delirious with pleasure, Atsushi's hands drifted up her back as he watched her face with as much attention as he could muster through his want. She was still lightly shaking, but the more seconds that ticked by, laced with the gentle crackling of the fire, she more she relaxed and sunk down further onto him. He needed to concentrate hard to keep himself from shaking, to keep from taking over because he knew that if he lost control, he ran the risk of hurting her. That was the last thing he wanted, couldn't even think about it, but as she started to move after what seemed like an agonizingly long time, all he could see was her.

Their pace was slow, but deliberate as Tatsuki slowly rose and fell, spearing herself on his length over and over while her hands ran hot courses over his shoulders and up his neck. She wanted to keep it slow, fearing that if she was too sloppy that the pain would return, but each slow motion only served to drive her wild. Her whole body was vibrating with its desperate pleas for more and with his hands gripping her hips, he guided her up and down with perfect rhythm.

"Oh my god-... This feels so good." Tatsuki mulled, moaning up towards the ceiling as her hands planted down into his shoulders for leverage to help keep her balanced.

"It feels good because it's Muro-Chin." He said, his teeth lightly clenched as his gut burned and tightened with each rise and fall of her.

"It's better than the dreams." She exhaled through panting breath, beginning to get the feel for the rhythm as her hips began to roll without having to think about it.

Feeling her grind into him, burying him even deeper inside her, Atsushi groaned with pleasure as his head dropped back against the couch and his hips rolled up to match her motions. Nothing he did was jerky, or erratic, rather smooth and deliberate so she was as comfortable as possible. Knowing it was her first time, he wanted her to feel nothing, but pleasure and each time he met her motions with his own, her throat rolled with airy moans that only served to drive him further into madness.

His grip on her hips tightened as his jaw clenched, lifting his head from the couch to watch her move. Her breasts softly bounced with her rises and falls, and his mouth watered with wanting to taste them. He reached up, cupping one of the fleshy mounds and lifted it to his mouth where her nipple was clasped between his lips. He felt her stiffen and heard her moan at his actions, but she continued to ride him just as if he was a horse. His arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close and that was when he felt her muscles begin to tighten around him.

"Nah-... Fuck, you feel good, Muro-Chin. I'm close... I know it." He moaned out through his work to her breast, his tongue bar dragging over her nipple to raise the pink nub.

"I-I... I think I am too... I... I'm so tight." She breathed, her hands grasping his head to lift it up and expose his face to her.

Without hesitation, Tatsuki dropped her head and claimed his lips where they sloppily kissed and ran their tongues over the others. His mouth was super heated to her, making his tongue bar feel as if it was white hot coals, but it felt so good that she couldn't stop. The sensation of his tongue in her mouth and his length burying itself inside her was making it impossible to think, impossible to even comprehend words, but when she started to feel that tightness begin to somehow tighten even more, she moaned into his mouth for him to swallow.

"Here it comes, Atsu... Here it comes-" She choked out, her mouth ceasing its actions to let her lips rest against his.

"Cum for me... Give me the greatest sweet that has ever existed." He mulled, holding her tighter as his abdomen clenched.

She never stopped rising and falling, feeling him grow thicker and stretch her to the near limit, but she couldn't stop. It felt far too good for it to stop and when she reached the limit of the tightness between her legs, it erupted into a rolling loll of pleasurable heat that made her shutter.

"Oh my god!... Oh, Atsu!" She cried out through her pleasured mouth, allowing him to swallow her prays.

Atsushi groaned out a long roll that was deep and vibrating and feeling the pulsing inside her had been his undoing. He had caused her pleasure, had given her a new experience and just the thought made him twitch. She rode out her orgasm like she was riding a wave and with a firm press of her hips against his, the cork popped from the bottle as he reached his end.

With a deep groan, Atsushi stilled as he spilled out, filling the condom so much that the hot liquid seeped between his length and the latex. He didn't care, couldn't be made to care, as it had felt so good to be connected to her that not even the howling blizzard outside meant anything. He was high, euphoric, on cloud 9 as it were and as she began to breathe again, his head started to clear and allow him to see what looked back at him from above.

"That was amazing, Atsu." She whispered, trailing her fingers down his cheek as she softly smiled.

Atsushi nodded, "I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked as he slid his hand up her spine.

"No... It only hurt for a moment, but then... it felt so good." She said, smiling a bit wider as she lowered her head to place a warm and soft kiss to his forehead.

"I'm glad. I never wanna go back to Akita. I wanna stay here." He said, closing his eyes so that he was completely wrapped up in her presence.

"I want you to stay too. This is where you belong... With me." She said.

He opened his eyes to look up at her, to admire the way her skin glowed in the firelight and how her gray eye was gazing down at him with mirth and love. Her bangs were still swept over her left eye and wanting to see them both, see how pretty they were, he reached up and swept them aside. She was beautiful, radiant even and still feeling himself inside her as she sat astride him, he didn't care what happened outside. Nothing could happen in that moment that would spoil it, stuck in his perfect moment in time and sitting there, joined with her, holding her, everything he had ever done made sense. To him, basketball was a thing of the past, his father was a thing of the past and his future, in that moment, was the sweetest thing that had ever been within his grasp.

He loved her and she him, and no matter what they would face in their future, it would be together. He swore in that moment that he would never leave her side.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The blizzard had been brutal, unrelenting in its dumping of snow to completely cover everything under a heavy blanket of white. The wind had brought down trees and power poles, buried smaller homes and animals that had to be rescued by neighbors, or the city officials, but after only a couple of days, the town had finally dug itself out. It had taken some time, but with the city, as well as many of the farming families all working together, the roads had been cleared and everything seemed to be getting back to normal.

Even for Atsushi and Tatsuki.

School had been suspended because of the blizzard, but that didn't mean that they could just lounge around and do nothing. The farm needed tending to and while Atsushi cared for the animals, taking an extra minute to make sure little Maiubo was alright, Tatsuki used the tractor to plow out the drive. He shoveled out the porch and cleared off the stairs, spreading out a bit of salt to make sure neither he, nor Tatsuki would slip and once everything was done, ranging from caring for the animals to clearing snow, they happily would sit inside and sip hot cocoa. Both were happy, content to relax and let time pass them by, and once it had come time for the last few days of school to resume before their holiday break, their candy canes were perfect, decorated and a hit.

With the upcoming holiday gathering, dozens of candy canes had been hung on nearly every doorway and handed out to nearly every student. There was such a demand for them, that Atsushi and Tatsuki had to enlist the help of the whole baking club just to make enough. They oversaw the process while the others made them and with their procedure down pat, candy canes were being churned out dozens at a time until the whole school smelt of fresh peppermint and warm sugar and everyone loved it; Mostly everyone.

Tatsuki let out a huge sigh as she thumbed through the candy canes that were ready to be decorated, being careful not to break them as she delicately wrapped the green ribbon and peppermint leaves around each stalk. For the last three days, her sinuses were unable to smell anything besides the peppermint. It had permeated her clothes, her hair, even her skin had an airy tinge of mint to it. She very much wanted to smell other things, but most of all, she wanted back the ability to smell Atsushi's cologne, which was how she usually knew he was on approach. It was his scent, what she associated with him, but now that her whole world was nothing, but peppermint, she had no idea that her 6'10, purple haired boyfriend was standing right behind her.

"They look nice, Muro-Chin."

At the sudden voice and large hands on her shoulders, Tatsuki jumped, nearly dropping the candy cane in her hands that she fumbled to try and keep ahold of. For some reason, the candy cane had suddenly turned into a bouncing ball and every time she tried to grasp it, it jumped up into the air again. She was starting to panic that she was going to drop it, but as it came down, this time, it landed in a large palm and stayed.

"Careful, Muro-Chin. It would be a waste if it dropped." Atsushi said dully, softly smiling as he looked down at her with love in his eyes.

Tatsuki started to breathe again, "Thanks, Atsu. That was close." She sighed.

"Sure... How come you're so tense today? You're really stiff." He said as he set the candy cane down gently and lightly began to massage her shoulders.

"I'm not tense, just busy." She said, sighing once more as she rested her hands down on the counter.

"No... Pretty sure you're tense." He said, gently pressing his fingers into the meat of her shoulders to try to loosen up the tension.

Tatsuki's throat exhaled with a groan, "Alright. Alright... Maybe I am tense. It's just there's so much to do with this upcoming gathering and getting all these candy canes made that I just feel spent. I can't even smell anything besides peppermint right now." She sighed and hung her head.

"It is tiring making all these, but it'll be worth it, don't you think?" He asked, ceasing his gentle massage much to Tatsuki's displeasure.

"I hope so. They seem real popular, but I just wanna make sure that this gathering goes off without a hitch." She said.

"It will and that's because you're at the helm. This is gonna be the best holiday thing ever." He said with a smile.

Tatsuki couldn't help, but smile up at him, how his voice was child-like and innocent with his words. There was nothing to do, but trust him and believe him and whether he saw it, or not, she knew he was right.

"It will. It's gonna be a lot of fun and a great way to ring in the holidays." She said, standing up to lean back against his chest.

"I even got Muro-Chin something. Do you want it now, or later?" He asked, his voice soft and teasing as his arms snaked around her waist to hold her back against him.

Tatsuki immediately blushed, "Y-You what?... You got me something? Atsu-... Why did you do that?" She asked, her eyes wide as she watched his hands release her.

Free of his arms, she turned around to look up at him as he slipped a hand into his cardigan pocket and pulled out a small red box that was wrapped with green ribbon. It wasn't a large box, rather long and narrow than square and it was only the length of his hand from the tip of his fingers to the heel of his palm.

"Atsu-... What is it?" She breathed, unable to look away from the box as she reached for it, but it was pulled out of her reach.

"Do you want it now, or later? I can always hang onto it until tonight when Uncle and I come over for dinner." Atsushi teased with a mischievous grin.

Tatsuki pouted up at him, "I want it now." She mumbled and blushed.

"Are you sure?" He nearly sang.

"Yes." She grunted and crossed her arms.

Atsushi's shoulders rattled with a silent laugh, "Alright, Muro-Chin, but only because that pout is way too cute." He said with a bow of his head to plant a soft kiss to her hair covered forehead.

She wanted to continue pouting, to keep her bottom lip stuck out like a petulant child, but the way he was looking at her with a subtle twinkle in his eye and that soft, child-like smile was making it difficult. Her mouth tensed up and she attempted to muscle passed it, but ultimately, her own smile broke through as she took the delicately wrapped gift from his hand.

"What is it?" She asked, taking a moment to admire the wrapping, which was done very nicely and giving her the inkling that he had had it done for him.

"Open it." He said.

Tatsuki's smile widened for a moment as she started to carefully remove the ribbon, slipping a finger through the crease of the paper and tearing it open to reveal a plain, cream colored box with no markings, or words. It was textured as if it was made from the bark of a tree and the top was slipped over the bottom like a cap that she easily eased up to reveal the present inside.

The moment she laid her eyes on it, she softly gasped, placing her fingers over her lips as if it would help to stifle it, but it did nothing. She was too enamored with the long hair pin, how it was topped with a purple jewel that was accented with a small dangle of more baubles that was all colors of the rainbow. It was inlaid with the golden visage of lush vines against glossy black and as she picked it up, she finally started to breathe again.

"Atsushi-... It's beautiful. Where did you get it?" She asked, never taking her eyes off the elegant hair pin as she gently touched the dangle of beads.

"That's supposed to be a secret, Muro-Chin. Do you like it? I didn't know what you wanted, so I kinda looked around for awhile until I saw this." He said, carefully taking it from her hands and placing his hand on her shoulder to coax her to turn around.

"I love it, Atsu. It's wonderful. I'll make sure to wear it tonight when you guys come over." She said with a genuine smile, standing still as Atsushi gathered her hair and twisted its length up into a sloppy bun before sinking the hair pin down to keep it in place.

As Tatsuki turned back around to face him, a lock of hair fell free of the gathered bun to joined her swept bangs that kept her left eye shrouded from view. She tucked it behind her ear as she blushed, shifting her gaze away to help her keep some composure, but his knuckle softly rapped against her chin, making her look back up at him and his delicate smile.

However, as they shuffled closer together for the possibility of sharing a kiss, the metallic slide of a tray being placed on the counter startled them both back into reality as they realized they were in the kitchen and working to make a hoard of candy canes to put up all over the school.

"Here's more candy canes, Tatsuya. They're freshly cooled." Said one of the girls in their club as she wiped off her hands on a towel over her shoulder.

"Right... Thank you. How many more are there?" Tatsuki asked, softly clearing her throat as she and Atsushi fell back into their tasks of decorating and making sure the others were handling the hot sugar properly.

"Um... a couple dozen I think. We've gone through all the ingredients for the day." She said.

"Alright. Have the last batch get pulled into canes and we'll be done. You guys can start taking the finished candy canes to the gym so they can be hung up." Tatsuki said with a nod and a smile.

The girl returned the smile before heading off, leaving her to return to decorating the candy canes with the peppermint leaf ribbons and carefully setting them down into the large box with the rest of the finished canes. One after another, she intricately wrapped each cane with the prepared adornments and as the box was near full, another girl from the baking club placed down an empty one before hefting the full box up and carting it off to the gym. Their system was a well oiled machine and after finishing with the last of the candy canes after a couple more hours of work, Tatsuki placed it into the box with a relieved smile across her lips.

However, as she made to lift up the box, Atsushi beat her to it and easily lifted it up into his arms before motioning with his head for her to follow him. She smiled as she cleaned off her hands and started to walk alongside him towards the gym, admiring how the school was ablaze with color and holiday cheer. Every student was smiling wide and exchanging gifts, wishing each other their best and chatting it up about how excited they were for the holiday gathering. Nearly all enjoyed their fresh candy canes and getting to see their hard work go so appreciated, Tatsuki could only smile wider as they entered the gym.

Having spent nearly the whole day and then some in the kitchen making candy canes, they hadn't gotten to see how much the gym had changed. The planning committee had pulled out all the stops, having run long bands of red and green ribbons across the gym, zigzagging from the stage, all the way to the door. They were wrapped around thick cords that hung soft white lights that made it look like a starry sky, hiding the unsightly open rafters of the ceiling in favor of something more beautiful. The stage was framed with white runs of fabric and covered with puffy white cotton where couples and friends could have their pictures taken in front of the winter wonderland backdrop. Tables had been set up on either side of the painted court on the gym floor, where they had been covered with festive table cloths and hung up all over the walls were huge snowflakes that were lit and glowing.

"Wow... This looks amazing!" Tatsuki beamed as her smile grew to its full size.

"It looks like outside, but without the bitter cold." Atsushi said, starting for the staging table where the other boxes of candy canes were set.

Tatsuki chuckled, "That is true... Do you wanna get our pictures taken at the holiday gathering tomorrow?" She asked with a quick point up at the stage.

"We can. I might actually send one to my mom. She probably wants to know how I'm doing." Atsushi said as he set the box down on the table next to the others.

"You haven't spoken to her?" She asked.

Atsushi shook his head, "Not really. I'll send her a text every so often, but that's about it. I just... I just wish she would've stood up for me when my dad shipped me off."

"I understand. I bet she'd like a picture of us. Does she know you and I are a couple?" She asked, smiling up at him.

"Yeah. She said that's wonderful and that's the last time I heard from her." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Tatsuki smiled up at him for a moment before looking around to admire the decorations and listen to the cheer, feeling at ease and peaceful with the day. There wasn't a worry in either of their minds, wasn't a care that nagged at them constantly; They were just comfortable, content with how things were, but when a shattering crunch broke through the pleasant atmosphere of the gym, nearly all smiles vanished as Atsushi and Tatsuki turned to look towards the gym door.

"It's agonizingly festive in here." Shirō crooned out with a grimace on his face as he ground his foot down onto the floor where a candy cane had been shattered to dust.

At the very sight of the boy, Atsushi's brows furrowed hard as his fists clenched, but no one in the gym said a thing as they just watched the leader of the pack with his two friends whom looked more frightened than anything at his side.

"I have no idea why any of you are smiling and cheerful. Most of you have shit to worry about." Shirō continued as he glared and scanned the gym.

Everyone just glanced at each other.

"Like you," he pointed at a boy on a ladder hanging snowflakes, "Your family's crop was worthless. Come to find out, you didn't bother fertilizing it." Shirō said with a hard furrow in his brow.

The boy reeled, "W-What?... B-But it was all healthy crop! What do you mean it was worthless?"

"Too small. We didn't even bother sending it off. Least the cows liked it. That's about all it was good for." Shirō scoffed and crossed his arms.

"That was high grade soy! We took care of it just like it's supposed to be taken care of!" The boy snapped, climbing down the ladder to lessen the risk of falling.

"You obviously did something wrong. The beans were sour. That's why you're supposed to fertilize." Shirō said as he waved the boy off.

"We did!" The boy quickly defended.

"Not from what I saw." Shirō smirked crookedly.

As the boy growled angrily and balled his fists, a couple of his friends urged him to calm down as Shirō shifted his attention to someone else, a much taller and stronger target that on several occasions, hadn't failed to stand up against him. He had been a thorn in his side ever since the day he had arrived and despite being shorter by a great deal, he didn't seem to have trouble standing his ground.

"Wanna know what else I found out?" Shirō asked snidely as he stared right at Atsushi whom was furiously glaring back at him.

"I don't really think it matters. You're just here to spoil the day." Atsushi said firmly.

"Not my fault if my family is paying for a certain product and getting a lesser standard. Turns out more than one of you have been lying." Shirō maliciously laughed low in his throat.

The gym was filled with low murmurs as they all regarded each other.

"Guess who's been using illegal compost on our crops." Shirō said, never once looking away from Atsushi's glare.

"Illegal in whose eyes?" Atsushi asked quietly.

"Under my family's contract with your uncle, he isn't allowed to use his own compost, but he did anyways." Shirō said with a scowl.

"I've seen the contract. No where, does it say that he isn't allowed to use his own compost." Atsushi growled, releasing a long and heated breath out through his nose.

"Funny; The ones at my house say otherwise." Shirō started to smirk again.

Atsushi huffed, "I don't believe you."

"Whatever. Just know that your uncle's farm is now open for my family to sue for the cost of the crop; Somewhere in the range of $278,000 dollars worth. I hope your uncle can pay that... Oops. Maybe he can't because guess who pays him." Shirō cackled.

Atsushi bared his teeth, "Don't ever come near my uncle's farm, or you won't be leaving." He growled angrily.

"You can't do a thing to stop it. Your uncle fucked up; Plain and simple." Shirō spat out.

"He did nothing of the sort! You've been illegally going onto other peoples' property looking for reasons to void contracts so your family can force them out! You're the worst of the worst!" Tatsuki snapped, thrusting a finger in the boy's direction.

"You aren't exempt from this Little Miss Himuro. I know for a fact your family's fields are ten feet over your property line, which put those lines on property owned by my family. Since those lines weren't harvested by my family and sold off, you owe us the value of those crops. What is it; $50,000, or so? That must suck knowing the great and powerful agricultural lawyer wasn't even good enough to watch his own back." Shirō grinned.

"You don't know anything! Atsu and I saw you when you were trespassing on our land and those land surveys were from 20 years ago! The lines have been redone since then!" Tatsuki fired back, her eyes angry and jaw tense with rage.

"Don't be so sure about that, Himuro. All I need to do is let it slip to my dad and all you hold outs are in the crosshairs. None of you would be surviving right now if it wasn't for my family and this is going to open up a whole world of progression for this lousy little town." Shirō scowled.

"If you want progress, move to a city. I'll even recommend one to you, but leave this town alone. It's just fine the way it is." Atsushi said, taking a half step closer to Shirō and glowering down at him with fury etched onto his face.

"Says the useless city trash that just showed up one day. You have zero say where this town is concerned, so step off and stop butting into where you don't belong. You'll do better to leave and go back to where you came from, Freak." Shirō spat up at him.

"I'm not going anywhere. This place is my home and I won't just turn my back and let you destroy it." Atsushi said.

Shirō's eyes briefly narrowed, "You're just a speed bump; Nothing more than a hiccup that I can't seem to get rid of, but luckily for you, I might have something in mind."

"Bring it." Atsushi said as his scowl deepened even more.

"You and me in a one-on-one. Right here. If you win, I back off, but if I win, you leave town." Shirō said, drawing in a deep breath as he started to smile.

"You don't stand a chance!-" Tatsuki tried, but silenced herself when Atsushi held his hand up.

"Which sport?" Atsushi demanded.

"What else besides basketball?" Shirō said with a crooked smirk.

"You do realize whom you're challenging right?" Atsushi asked, drawing in a steady breath that filled his chest.

"Oh, I'm well aware, but I think I've got a shot. You aren't so impressive that you can't be stopped by someone smaller." Shirō said as his crooked smirk began to fade into a scowl.

"It's happened already, so don't think I don't know how to counteract it." Atsushi said as his fists clenched once more.

"I guess we'll see. Do you accept my challenge?" Shirō asked.

"When and where?" Atsushi said, his voice stone cold and firm.

"This gym after the break. We'll kick off the new year with a bang." Shirō said.

"Fine. Just don't chicken out at the last second." Atsushi said, going so far as to hold his hand out for a handshake.

Shirō just glared up for another moment, but instead of taking Atsushi's hand, he just scowled and turned around to leave. He waved for his lackeys to follow, neither ever having said a word as they just obeyed and under everyone's gaze, the trio left. No one knew what to say as they all regarded each other and after several moments of hushed murmurs and brief glances, the others all looked at the only one capable of holding the boy off.

"Lay him flat, Murasakibara. He's gotta be stopped." Said one boy; The one from the ladder whose face was heavy with worry.

"He can't keep doing this. If this shuts him up, you've gotta beat him." Said a girl.

"This is our chance to finally beat him down and one of the Generation of Miracles is gonna do it. We have a shot." Said a boy.

"You can do it, right, Murasakibara?"

"Please win... For us."

"We don't care that you're one of the Generation of Miracles. Please help us."

The gym was filled with the other students' pleas, their hopes and dreams being piled onto his shoulders and making him heavier. He could feel each one of them being laid upon him, making it seem as if the gym was closing in around him, each wall laden with spikes, but without even having to look down, feeling her touch against his arm was a comfort and made the murmuring pleas disappear.

"Atsu-... Are you sure about this?" Tatsuki asked, her voice quiet and her visible right eye curved with worry.

Atsushi placed his hand over hers and grasped it, "I have to. He can't win against absolute height. All his petty ideals are made obsolete by me." He said, his tone distant and ominous as he shifted his gaze over towards the retracted basketball hoop on the far end of the gym.

"Atsu... He's sly. He might have something up his sleeve." She said, curling her fingers around to clutch his hand.

Atsushi nodded, "Probably. I'll stay on my guard, Muro-Chin, but if this gets him off our back, then I have to."

Tatsuki nodded, "Okay, Atsu."

He finally started to breathe again as he looked down at her, seeing her still worried eye as she just stared at their joined hands with her shoulders up like shields. She was anxious, scared even and as he scanned the room, he saw that every ounce of cheer that had been there, was gone.

It made him angrier.

"Muro-Chin, I'm gonna head home and talk to Uncle Hiroshi. I'll see you tonight at your house when we come over." Atsushi said, reaching over to tilt her head up so she would look at him.

"Okay, Atsu. You gonna be okay?" She asked quietly as the others began to slowly return to work.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah. Don't worry too much, Muro-Chin. It's gonna be okay... I promise." He said as he rested his hand against her cheek.

Tatsuki nodded and lightly smiled, "I know. I'll see you later, Atsu. Love you." Her smile broadened.

Atsushi wasn't able to resist smiling back as he leaned down to softly kiss her lips before heading for the door, not even looking at any of the other students as they watched him leave. He hadn't realized it in the tension of the air, but his heart was beating far harder than he thought it should. He was a basketball player, due to the insistence of his father, but having played so long and so well, there was no forgetting it. He knew how to level snobby kids like that out; Knew how to take them down a peg, or two without having to put forth much effort. He was used to it; Was good at it, but not knowing exactly why Shirō had wanted to have a one-on-one, he was actually nervous.

He had managed to catch the bus, getting off at the end of his uncle's driveway and trudged through the crunching snow towards the house. He saw the old truck parked in its usual spot, telling him that his uncle was home and as he pounded his toes down onto the porch to tap off the clinging snow, the front door opened up on its own.

"What're you doing home so early, Kiddo?" Hiroshi asked, stepping aside as Atsushi ducked and stepped through the door.

"Needed to leave before I did something stupid." Atsushi grunted out as he took off his boots and set them aside.

"Huh?... What're you talking about?" Hiroshi asked, shutting the door.

"Shirō and I faced off, so that was fun." Atsushi said, pulling off his scarf and coat and hanging them up.

"If you tell me you got suspended for punching the little shit, I won't be mad." Hiroshi said plainly as he crossed his arms and arced a brow.

"No... Kinda wish I did though. I guess he's been snooping around for breaks in contracts so his family can void them." Atsushi said with a huff.

"That little shit... I fucking knew it. He actually have anything?" Hiroshi asked, his voice instantly changing to a sharp sting with his sudden anger.

"It sounds like it, but I don't know how legit it is. He says using your own compost was against the contract, so yours is void." Atsushi said, slipping on his house shoes before padding for the kitchen with his uncle right behind him.

"What?... That's bullshit! The contract doesn't specify what kind of fertilizer to use, so long as I fertilize. That little troll doesn't know what the hell he's talking about." Hiroshi growled.

"It sounded like he did. Your farm isn't in trouble is it, Uncle Hiroshi?" Atsushi asked, glancing back over his shoulder before opening the fridge with the want of something to eat.

"No... Over my dead body am I gonna lose this place because of some punk ass kid. I'll talk with Tatty's dad tonight when we go over for dinner." Hiroshi said as he released a long sigh and rubbed the meat of his shoulder.

"Okay." Atsushi mumbled with a nod.

"How did you two face off? He try and pick a fight?" Hiroshi asked, following his nephew into the kitchen as Atsushi pulled out the jug of milk.

Atsushi held up a finger as he chugged several huge gulps of milk right from the bottle. No matter how many times he had some, the freshness and creamy taste was nothing short of spectacular. It was soothing the savage beast and with one more pull, he capped the bottle and put it back into the fridge.

"Guess it depends on your definition of a fight. He wants to play a one-on-one after the break in the school gym." Atsushi said dully as he started to rummage through the fridge.

"A one-on-one? Does he not know that you'd demolish him? What the hell is he thinking?" Hiroshi asked, furrowing his brows as he pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down.

Atsushi shrugged, "Who knows. He seems confident, so maybe there's a challenge there. Won't know till it's time I guess."

"I don't trust the little snot. Don't let your guard down, Atsushi. I don't want any phone calls from the hospital, or the police." Hiroshi said with a laced growl.

"What do you mean?" Atsushi asked.

"I don't wanna hear that you're in the hospital, and I don't wanna here that you _put_ him in the hospital. Just kick his ass at some basketball and push him aside." Hiroshi said with a point at the tall boy.

"It shouldn't be a problem. I doubt he even knows how to run any plays." Atsushi said, finding some leftover pie and deciding that it would be his snack.

"Still... Don't drop your guard. That little bitch is a crafty one, so don't give him any openings." Hiroshi said.

"I won't." Atsushi said as he sat down at the kitchen table with utensils in hand.

"Finally heard what that box thing was." Hiroshi said after a moment as he pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah?" Atsushi hummed before stuffing a bite into his mouth.

"It's a GPS surveyor; Just like we thought it was. Looks like someone was trying to run line surveys on the property." Hiroshi said with a scowl.

"Shirō?" He stuffed another bite into his mouth.

"Wouldn't be surprised. They're still analyzing it, so we'll know soon enough. Don't let the brat get to you, Kiddo. Just do what you gotta do and then move on." Hiroshi said, erasing his scowl to actually smile at his nephew.

"I won't. I just don't want him bothering Muro-Chin and I. Every time he shows up, Muro-Chin takes it pretty hard." Atsushi said.

"Well, that's why she has you, Kiddo." Hiroshi smiled even wider.

"Yeah. I told her I'd see her tonight. I think she understood." Atsushi said with another bite.

"Did she smile at you before you left?" Hiroshi asked, resting his elbow down on the table with his head in his hand.

"Yeah." Atsushi said plainly.

"Then you're probably good. She's not a dumb girl, so I doubt there's any underlying meaning." Hiroshi huffed a smirk.

"I know. I just don't like it when she's sad and she's only ever sad when he comes around. It makes me angry." Atsushi said, scrapping up a large bite that consisted mostly of crust that he immediately popped into his mouth.

Hiroshi's crooked smirk grew, "Sounds like you two are real serious. Who'd a thought you'd come all the way out here and find yourself a girlfriend... My farmhand no less."

Atsushi put his fork down, "Coming out here was a fresh start for me. Back home, I was followed by my reputation and I didn't like it. I stood out too much and people wouldn't leave me alone. Out here?... I'm just Atsushi Murasakibara; Just a tall kid living on a farm. I'm not the monster of the Generation of Miracles. I'm not scary, or evil; I'm just plain old me and not only does Muro-Chin see it, but the other kids at school don't care. Coming out here was the best thing I could have done."

"I'm kind of inclined to agree with you, Kiddo. It's been nice having you here. I don't know how long you're supposed to stay, but you're more than welcome to stay for good if you want. The farm's never been in this good a shape and to be honest, it's nice to see that something good came from that rotting pile of useless flesh you call a father." Hiroshi said, his surprisingly gentle smile never even tripping at the mention of a man he detested.

Atsushi smiled, "I really do wanna stay, Uncle Hiroshi. I like it here better."

Hiroshi's smile widened as he reached out and set his hand down on Atsushi's shoulder with a slight grip to give it, giving it a firm pat before taking his hand back and resting it down on the table.

"It is better... With you here."

He hadn't had many chances to think about it with all that was going on; All the holiday planning, making candy canes and spending time with Tatsuki, but now that his uncle had said something, it was at the forefront of his mind. Ever since stepping off that train in a place he was unfamiliar with, he had been working from dawn to dusk trying to get used to it, trying to fall into step with everything else around him. It had all started out rough, rough enough where he felt as if he was going to trip, but when he thought he would be lost to the farm, he had been caught by not only one person, but two.

His uncle was a gruff man, but he had learned quickly that so long as he worked and worked well, his ears would stay attached to the side of his head. He was a man that didn't sugarcoat things, didn't beat around the bush as it where, but slowly throughout the months, he had seen a change in the man.

Instead of being that rough around the edges, hardworking man that he had first met, his uncle had begun to show a softer side; Smiling more often and even laughing when they were cooking dinner, or working together on the farm. He was a multi-layered man, complex, but Atsushi could see that it didn't matter whom his parentage was, it only mattered that they were related by blood and that meant, he loved him.

"I love you, Uncle Hiroshi. Thanks for taking me in." Atsushi said, smiling a bit wider at the man as sat up straight with a bit of shock.

"I uh-" he sighed and smiled, "I love you too, Kiddo. This is your home just as much as mine. We can look into getting you a bigger bed since it looks like you're staying for good." Hiroshi said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Atsushi's eyes widened, "R-Really?... I don't have to curl up anymore?"

"We'll make something work. If I've gotta build the frame myself, then order a long mattress, I will. It might take a month, or two, but the funds will show up and we'll make something happen." Hiroshi said.

"Thank you, Uncle Hiroshi. That means a lot. I know it's a bother with me being as tall as I am." Atsushi said, picking up his fork again to resume his consumption of pie.

However, before he could get a large bite stabilized on the silver utensil, it was snatched from his hand and the pie was picked up, being lifted over his head as it made its way make to the fridge.

"Hey!... I wanted that." Atsushi whined, watching as his uncle put the pie back in the fridge.

"We're going to dinner here soon. Don't spoil your appetite." Hiroshi said, shooting his nephew a sidelong glance as he shut the fridge door.

Atsushi arced an eyebrow, "Really?... Me? Spoil my appetite?... Since when?"

Hiroshi froze, "True, but you know how Tatty's mom can get when company is coming over. She always makes too much."

"I know. It's amazing." Atsushi daydreamed and smiled wide.

Hiroshi softly laughed, "Such a teenager," he mumbled to himself, "Go get cleaned up and we'll head over in a little bit."

As Hiroshi stepped out of the kitchen, Atsushi just sat and watched him go, still smiling at the idea of the amount of food he was going to have access to later in the evening. He felt good, like the weight that had been piled onto his shoulders after Shirō had taken his leave had been lifted off, leaving him feeling like he could fly. He felt so much better and that alone was a huge relief, as he didn't wish to go over to the Himuro home feeling heavy and grumpy. Knowing that his uncle truly did love him, and even wanted him to stay warmed him to the bone and as he looked around the kitchen, the kitchen where hundreds of meals had been cooked and consumed, the kitchen where he and Tatsuki had baked together and he had discovered a real love for her and baking, he smiled at his home that he swore he would defend.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Growing up, the holidays were never a big event, were never given more than just a passing glanced with few words and maybe a well cooked meal. The obligatory greetings were passed, and maybe a gift, or two, were given, but other than that, the Murasakibara household was always dark and quiet when all others were alive and festive.

However, this year, this holiday season, was a lot different for Atsushi, as not only was he ravished with kisses, hugs and maybe some alone time with Tatsuki, but also more food than he knew what to do with and was near swimming in gifts. He and Tatsuki had baked pies and cookies, pastries and candies while her mother cooked their lavish supper for the holidays, where all were jubilant and smiling wide as they enjoyed wine, or a cocktail. Music had played in the background and the snow outside had gently fallen just to make sure that their holidays were white. School had been the farthest thing from his mind, wasn't even a blip on his radar, but now that the holidays were over, and the new year had begun, going back to school meant that his showdown with Shirō Kitagawa was now the talk of the school.

From the second he had gotten on the bus, he had heard murmurs and hopes from the others, nearly all wishing him luck and telling him that they were on his side. He hadn't realized it, but the Kitagawa family had more of a hold on the town than he had thought. More than half the school had students from families that relied on the rental funds from the massive conglomerate that paid to use their farms to grow their crops, which meant, that those students wouldn't dare voice up out of fear of retaliation towards their families. He felt their hopes and dreams once again and he was only piled with more once he had reached the school.

The entire time he had walked towards his classroom, more and more students sent him their greetings and well wishes, all managing to smile, but instead of smiling back, he just nodded and kept walking. In all the times he had played against a strong opponent, he was never nervous, or apprehensive, but for some reason, the thought of going one-on-one with Shirō was making his stomach tighten. Something wasn't sitting right with him, but no amount of trying to think of what it could be brought him any closer to an answer and as he sat down in his seat next to Tatsuki, it only took her a second to see it on his face.

"You're nervous, aren't you." Tatsuki said in a hushed voice as she took in his extra fidgeting as he trapped the tongue bar between his front teeth.

"No." He said blandly and just as quietly as he pulled out his books and set them down on his desk.

"Atsu-" She said, lightly resting her hand down on his forearm to finally earn his gaze for longer than a fleeting second.

Atsushi sighed, "Okay, fine... I'm kinda... jittery about it. Street games are unpredictable and since I'm playing against Shirō, who knows what'll happen." He said as he gripped and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'd try to look at the bright side about this, but you're right; I don't think Shirō would've challenged you to a basketball game unless he had something up his sleeve, but damn if I know what." She said softly, running her hand up and down his arm in comfort.

"I know. It's just a one-on-one anyways, so the first to five and it'll be over." He said as the teacher called the class to order to begin their day.

"Just make sure it's over fast. Don't hold back and don't give him a chance to pull anything funny... Then we can move on." She said quietly as she lightly smiled at him.

"Problem is, is that if I don't hold back, I could end up hurting him. With my size, it doesn't take much for me to go overboard." He said, looking up at the front of the class to make it appear that he was listening.

"I understand, but no matter the outcome, I'm in your corner, Atsu." She said.

"And what if I lose? Our deal was I'd leave... What'll happen to us?" He said, this time looking over at her with saddened eyes that scanned her face.

"Oh, Atsu-" she breathed out as she took his hand, "You aren't worried about playing, you're worried what'll happen if you have to leave." She said, tightening her hold on his hand in an attempt to reassure him.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... I like it here. I don't wanna leave and I especially don't wanna leave you behind. Akita is a long way from here, Muro-Chin." He said, covering her hand with his other to trap it between them.

"I know, but that won't matter. I know these are just words, but I'll prove it to you, Atsu; We'll still be together, even with the distance." She said with a kind and gentle smile.

"I wanna believe that... I do, but I'm scared we'll drift apart." He said as he looked down at their joined hands.

"I know you are, but I know that both of us would try our hardest to stay close." She said.

Again, Atsushi nodded, "I would. Whatever it took, Muro-Chin." He actually smiled.

They shared soft smiles and endearing glances before turning their attention to the front of the class, where the teacher was beginning their day's lessons and commanding them to turn to where they left off in their textbooks. Their studies were a welcomed distraction, helping him to push back the thoughts that had been plaguing him ever since waking up that morning to help his uncle with the farm. He had been so distracted with his thoughts that his uncle had had to get his attention back multiple times, but each time, the man wasn't angry, or harsh; He was understanding and just. It didn't take a genius to know that he wasn't there mentally, that he was functionally solely on autopilot, and knowing what he was likely to face that afternoon, his uncle wasn't about to give his nephew a hard time.

The teacher prattled on and on with their day's lesson, assigning homework and ignoring the groans of the students' displeasure at being saddled with work just coming off a break. None of their whines even phased the man and without even waiting for the students to quiet down, he moved on to their next subject. Atsushi drifted through the day, never once voicing up even if he knew the answers and only acknowledged Tatsuki when she gently patted his arm to keep him reassured, which he was grateful for.

Her touch was a comfort, a calming sensation that helped him to focus on their schoolwork instead of the shadow that seemed to be blanketing the clock. He and Tatsuki wouldn't be heading home at the end of the day, neither would a lot of the other students, but instead, heading to the gym for what was the talk of the school. Even their lunch was spent in quiet contemplation, but between the two, they were content with that. He had her comfort in silence and companionship and she was able to see him smile more and more throughout the day and once the bell rang to end the day and release the students, very few headed for the buses while the rest made their way to the gym.

Atsushi, however, was headed for the locker room, giving Tatsuki a warm kiss before disappearing through the doors with his gym bag slung over his shoulder. The soft flutters had returned in his stomach, but there wasn't much he could do about it as he set his bag down on a bench and took off his black cardigan. He slipped his tie off and unbuttoned the white shirt and once down to his white tank top, he unzipped his bag and pulled out clothes he hadn't worn in what seemed like ages.

Once dressed in his purple basketball shorts and black t-shirt, he looked at himself in the tall, full length mirror as he combed his hair a few times before tying it back to keep it out of his face. He hadn't seen himself look like this since middle school, and for some reason, it made his stomach calm a bit. He knew he could do this, knew he was the winning favorite and as he flexed his fingers into a claw, he looked at his hands and his blood warmed; The monster was waking up.

With a long release of his breathe, Atsushi headed out of the locker room, pushing the door open with a single hand where he stopped just on the other side. The gym was surprisingly full, loud from all the students talking and finding a spot where they could have the best angle to watch Shirō's downfall. He had no idea that so many students were interested in seeing the outcome, but as he shifted his gaze to the lowering hoops from the gym rafters, the unmistakable sound of a basketball hit the polished wood floor.

"Would you look at that. We're popular." Shirō said with a lopsided grin across his face, already dressed in some shorts and a t-shirt and with a basketball in hand.

The whole gym quieted down as the students turned and stared, encircling them as Tatsuki hurried over to Atsushi's side and grasped his arm. Atsushi's violet eyes narrowed as he glared at the smaller boy and his two followers and with each hollow bounce of the ball in the boy's hands, the monster stirred more and more until his throat had begun to growl.

"Something tells me they aren't on your side." Atsushi said, letting the locker room door close.

Shirō shrugged, "I don't really care and they all know why. This should be pretty interesting, don't you think?" He bounced the ball once more and slapped both his hands together to trap it between them.

"No... It'll be boring." Atsushi said.

"We'll see," he glared, "First to five points wins. Simple enough rules, so even you should understand them." Shirō smirked.

Atsushi rolled his eyes, but instead of shooting off his mouth, he just stepped into the encircled court and began to stretch his arms over his head.

"Lets get this over with so I can go home." Atsushi grumbled as he stopped in the center of the court.

Shirō's crooked smirk broadened as he stepped onto the court and bounced the ball some more, "Oh, you'll go home."

Atsushi's brows furrowed as he glared at the boy, bouncing the ball with no form and no precision. Just by watching the way he held the ball, he could tell Shirō wasn't skilled with it, but he didn't want to simply write him off just yet out of the risk of it just being for show. He was still smirking, still radiating arrogance and as he stopped in front of him, still bouncing the ball, Atsushi popped up an eyebrow and stood up straight.

"You can't possibly want to have an actual tip off." He said, curling up a corner of his upper lip in confusion.

"Naw... Even I know when I won't win something, but just try to catch me!"

In a burst, Shirō darted to his right, bouncing the ball far too hard that echoed the howl throughout the gym. He grinned and laughed as he headed for the hoop in a full sprint, but when he got to the painted block under the net, he stopped and looked down at his hands. The ball wasn't there.

The silence of the gym was broken with the steady heartbeat of a bouncing basketball that made him look behind him to where Atsushi was still standing in the center of the court. The titan was just looking back at him with a crooked smirk of his own and in his hands, was the ball he had somehow lost. He was steadily bouncing it, each hit precise, clean and deliberate and with just a flick of his wrist, he was controlling the ball with just the tips of his fingers.

"This'll be over before I even break a sweat." Atsushi growled as he turned away from the stunned boy and walked towards the other net.

Shirō sneered at Atsushi's back as he broke out into a full sprint to catch up with the giant's incredible strides that had already carried him to the painted square beneath the net. The steady beats of the ball had never faltered as he approached the net and he only stopped when Shirō skidded to a halt in front of him with his arms out to the side.

"Please... You have no hope." Atsushi said, gripping the ball in a single hand as he simply raised his arm.

Shirō had no hope. He knew that well and true as he watched Atsushi let the ball slip into the net for his first point, but his cocky grin never faded as he shifted his gaze over to see one of his followers filming the event on his cell phone. He just needed to keep the giant moron playing just a little bit longer and victory would be his, and once his throne was clinched, there would be nothing left to stand in his way. It had been a lot of work to set up the pieces, but it had all been worth it in his eyes just to get rid of the purple haired titan.

The moment the ball fell through the net, the gym went into an uproar of cheers as a girl flipped over a number card to display the score of Atsushi's one to Shirō's zero. Nearly all were beaming at the quick score and when it bounced off the floor to be grabbed by Shirō's hands, those cheers, somehow, continued as he sprinted for the other side of the court.

With the lights overhead, all Shirō could see was a looming shadow behind him, running after him like a lioness chasing a gazelle and it made the small hairs on the back of his neck prickle with a deeply buried fear. His fight, or flight response was kicking in at sensing the giant behind him, spurring him to run faster, but it did nothing to shake his pursuer.

In a flash that made him screech to a halt, Atsushi appeared in front of him, his head held low like a predator ready to pounce and his hands ready to react. For being so big, he was amazingly fast, surprisingly so, and he now stood between Shirō and the net with no hope of getting around him. There was nothing he could do and he knew it.

"How the hell did you do that?" Shirō gawked, finding himself actually surprised at just how fast Atsushi was.

Atsushi smirked, "My normal strides are as long as you are tall. I'm lean; built to move as fast as possible and with so little reaction time that it borders on precognitive. I've spent years training, practicing and playing against people who can actually play, so you to me?... This is laughable. Give up now before I embarrass you so badly that your family's gonna feel it."

Shirō gulped at Atsushi's words, holding the ball away, but knowing that if he wanted to, his giant hands could take it before he could even react. His only hope was to wait which meant that all he had to do was try and buy himself some time.

Seeing the genuinely frightened look in Shirō's eyes made Atsushi smirk all that much more with his eyes flicking over to catch momentary glances at Tatsuki whom was cheering for him just like all the others. This would be over before his heart could even speed up, before his skin could even become slicked with moisture. He would end this quickly and move on, put it all behind him, but when the gym doors opened, the hairs on the back of his neck began to stiffen and his smirk began to fade.

"Atsushi!"

That voice. He knew that voice all too well. It was the voice of a man whom was as about as infallible as space and time, so immovable that the greatest of earthquakes couldn't shatter his resolve. The anger in that voice shot a hot shiver down his spine, made his muscles twitch as he stood up straight and with his violet eyes shaking, he slowly turned his head as as his heart began to hammer.

"D-Dad?-" Atsushi breathed out, gasping as he set his eyes on the last man he wanted to see.

"What the hell are you doing?" His father barked, crossing his arms as he angrily glared at his youngest son.

Atsushi gulped, but instead of holding his father's gaze, he whipped his head around to set his eyes on the smirking boy still holding the ball.

"What did you do?" Atsushi asked, unable to stop his voice from shaking.

Shirō began to lowly laugh, "What I had to do. I knew I couldn't win against you, so I took out an insurance policy. I contacted your father and told him you've been playing." His grin widened into a malicious smile.

Atsushi's brows furrowed, but even if he wanted to say something, anything to put his anger into words, he couldn't. His voice had just switched off, due to his breath catching in his throat as he looked back at the man standing by the doors and under the eyes of every single soul inside the gym. All he could do was scan the crowd, seeing their blank faces as they stayed silent and watched what would unfold. There was no emotion to read, no anger, no fear, no nothing, accept one whom was so furious, so angry that her vibrant gray eyes had glassed over with tears as she headed straight for him.

Atsushi had been so frozen under the gaze of his father, that when a hard slap broke the tense silence, he startled and blinked to see that Tatsuki had slapped Shirō across the cheek hard enough to leave behind a reddening handprint.

"How could you?... Why did you turn into such a horrible, miserable person?" She asked, her voice cracking with her overflow of conflicting emotions.

"I did no such thing." Shirō said lowly.

"I see the women out here don't know their place, but unfortunately, I have no power to teach her a lesson. I can only rule my household and if your little harlot ever did that under my roof, she'd learn real quick." Atsushi's father hissed, still fuming and glaring at the three standing in the court under everyone's gaze.

That got Atsushi's voice working again.

"There's nothing for her to learn. Muro-Chin is more than capable of making her own decisions." He said, his mouth set into a hard line as he stared at his father.

"Muro-Chin?... Ah, I see. She's your bitch. The email mentioned as such." His father said plainly.

"Email?... What email?" Atsushi asked, turning his head once more to look at Shirō.

"I sent it, saying that there was something he should know regarding his son. I sent him a video of you playing basketball." Shirō said, not even phased by the hard slap to his cheek.

"What?... When?" Atsushi asked, his brows furrowed hard as his heartbeats began to ache.

"You practiced."

He had. Over the break, he had practiced while Tatsuki and he spent time with each other. He hadn't played in months, hadn't even handled a basketball, but after Shirō had challenged him and he accepted that challenge, he had returned to the court to polish up his skills so he could dominate and end things quickly. They had been enjoyable days playing and laughing and spending time with Tatsuki, sometimes with her trying to be his opponent, but he usually won with the occasional surprise from her. He didn't know they were being watched, being videoed and he never even suspected that someone was sending it to the one man that could truly ruin everything.

Finally forcing himself to take in a breath, Atsushi looked back at his father whose angry glare hadn't eased. Every part of the man was tense and blistering with anger, and he found, that with every passing moment he looked at him, his own fear was returning.

"You're coming with me and you _will_ play for Yōsen. They lost the Winter Cup because of you." His father hissed through clenched teeth.

"N-No... I won't." Atsushi said with a gulp that moved his Adam's apple.

"Excuse me?" His father said.

"You heard me; I'm not coming with you. I'm staying where I belong." Atsushi said, drawing in a breath to pick himself up as he rolled his shoulders back.

"You belong where I tell you to belong." His father said.

"I belong here!... With Muro-Chin and Uncle Hiroshi and that stupid dog who doesn't know its own name! I belong here!" Atsushi said, his voice no longer shaking as he stood up against the man.

"Doing what? Working a pointless farm with pointless animals with absolutely no direction?" His father snapped.

"I have a direction!" Atsushi quickly defended.

"Well that's a first... And what, exactly, is this direction you claim to have?" His father dared.

"I-I-" he gulped, "I like baking... I like baking with Muro-Chin and seeing everyone smile at what I made. I like brightening up someone's day with a cupcake, hearing them hum at getting to taste a pie I made with my hands with ingredients I gathered from Uncle Hiroshi's farm. I don't like shattering people's hopes and dreams with basketball... I like giving them hope with treats that brighten their days." Atsushi said, whose eyes had become heavy with gloss that sparkled beneath the lights of the gym.

"Baking?... That's a woman's work. Why the fuck is my son baking?" His father hissed.

"Because I chose to. It was my decision. I wanted to and you know what?... It felt amazing to make my own decision." Atsushi said with a barely there sniffle.

"Children should never be allowed to make their own decisions because this is what happens; Boys baking." His father scoffed.

"H-He's really good at it. He and Himuro made these candy-canes from scratch. They're really good." Said a girl standing with her friends a few paces away from his father.

"I'm sorry, but was anyone speaking to you?" His father said as he curled a lip with his disgust.

"Don't talk to her like that. She's just saying the candy-canes are good, and they are! He has a gift for baking!" Said a boy.

His father's brows furrowed hard, "He belongs on the court like his brothers, like I was and like all those before him. Not in a kitchen like he's barefoot and pregnant."

"Stop it!... Just stop with your chauvinistic mentality!" Atsushi snapped, his brows matching his father's.

"It's how things should be!"

"No, it's not! I've learned so much from Muro-Chin and I really like being in the kitchen! I love sweets and I love sharing them with others!" Atsushi said, his hands balling back into fists as his brows furrowed as hard as they could.

"I knew sending you to that wasteful man's house was a bad idea. Look what he did to you! He's turned you soft. What's next? Telling me you like boys too?" His father snarled.

"He'll always be a better man than you, so much so that I wish I was his son and not yours!" Atsushi howled.

The tension of the gym was broken once again when the gym doors opened, drawing everyone's attention, even his father's as the man turned around to seem whom was interrupting them. His expression never changed from the furious glare and when his wife, Atsushi's mother and Uncle Hiroshi stepped inside, Atsushi's heart ceased to exist as it evaporated into nothingness.

"I told you to stay in the car." His father said lowly and with a tensed jaw as he glared at his wife.

"Eito... Please, just let me handle this." His mother said quietly, almost fearfully as she didn't look the furious man in the eyes.

"Get your ass back in the car." His father growled.

"Try talking to her like a human being. You might be surprised by the results." Hiroshi hissed, matching the man's fiery glare with his own.

"Nobody asked you." His father said.

His mother, a small woman whom had given him his hair and eyes, shifted her gaze from the floor to her son, her eyes big and soft, and glimmering beneath the lights. He could tell she was pleading with him, begging him to stand down to make things easier for them all, but he couldn't. He wouldn't.

"Mom... P-Please." Atsushi choked out, trying to take in steady breaths that didn't ache.

"Atsushi... Just do what your father says. It'll be better for everyone if you just get in the car so we can go home." She said, her voice quiet and meek from her years of near servitude to the man whom was his father.

Atsushi shook his head, "No... I'm not going."

"Please, Atsushi... I've already gathered your things. They're in the car-" She was interrupted.

"Kiddo... Listen to me. If you don't wanna go, then I won't blame you, but know this," he swallowed, "Having you here, living under my roof... It's been the best thing to happen to this gruff old man in a long time. I've smiled more, enjoyed eating our meals together and working the farm together as been... nothing short of amazing. The decision's yours what you wanna do, but I just want you to know that I'll support you in whatever it is." Hiroshi said, holding Atsushi's gaze with familiar violet eyes.

Atsushi gulped, "I'm not going anywhere, Uncle Hiroshi... I'm staying here. I'm not leaving."

"Oh, yes you are. Get your ass in the car before I make you." His father said so low, so menacingly that it sent a shiver down Atsushi's spine that told him without a doubt that his father was not joking.

"No. You're just going to have to accept it. This is my home and I'm staying." Atsushi said, standing his ground and finding that the more he did, the less his chest ached.

Pursing his lips together, Eito Murasakibara dropped his arms as he started to stomp forward, making every muscle in his body go taught with anticipation as his father drew close. Atsushi didn't even know when it had happened, but he had side stepped to stand between his father and Tatsuki to protect her for some reason, forgetting that he was the target of the man's fury.

Far faster than he ever remembered, his father reached out and grabbed a tight fistful of his hair, painfully digging his fingers into his scalp as he snatched up the entirety of his ponytail. The pain in his scalp was sharp, intense as his father pulled and with far more strength than was truly needed, his father was yanking him towards the gym doors.

"Dad!... Let go!" Atsushi snapped, grabbing his father's wrist as he stumbled on his feet to keep from falling at being dragged along by his hair.

"Wait till I get you home... I'm going to have to reteach you how a son should act; How a son should speak to his father." His father said in a hard tone, shoving the doors open as Atsushi's mother worked to keep her fuming brother at bay.

"You degenerate prick! Let him go! He doesn't wanna go with you!" Hiroshi snapped, trying to push his sister aside, but with his desire not to hurt her, he wasn't pushing back.

"Don't speak to me about how best to raise my children! You know nothing about rearing children, you cock-sucking fag!" His father yelled back over his shoulder.

Atsushi's eyes snapped open and his breath caught as he planted his feet in the hallway of the school and used all his strength to halt his father's retreat. He stood up and pulled at his father's wrist with both hands, turning his head to give his hair the best route to slip from his father's grasp and once he threw his father's hands from his hair, he stood up straight and looked back at his uncle whose eyes were heavy with moisture.

"U-Uncle Hiroshi?" Atsushi said in a near whisper, his eyes stinging.

Hiroshi nodded, "He's not wrong, Kiddo. We hate each other for a lot of reasons... That being one of them; I'm gay." He lightly sniffled.

"W-Why didn't you tell me?" Atsushi asked softly, holding his uncle's gaze.

"Not everyone accepts it and I... I was scared how you'd react." Hiroshi admitted.

"I don't care. You're my uncle and I love you no matter what. I wish you were my dad." Atsushi said as his eyes, just like everyone elses began to shine.

"You're my nephew, Kiddo... It'll work for me. I love you too." Hiroshi said with the first tear falling from his eye.

"Uncle-"

Atsushi tried to go back, tried to get to his uncle with Tatsuki, whom was crying uncontrollably next to him and despite her support of her husband, his mother whose true emotions were beginning to show with tears and hiccups. He wanted to go to them, to wrap them all up in his arms and never let go, to destroy Shirō on the court and then go home where they would all enjoy the most amazing of meals. He wanted to keep waking up at ungodly hours to care for his uncle's small farm, to watch little Mauibo grow into a big, strong cow that would eventually go to the Himuro dairy farm to sire the next generation. He wanted to keep going to this school, with the other students and he most definitely wanted to keep spending all his time with a girl whom had truly stolen his heart; He wanted to stay with Tatsuki.

However, after only a single step, a single stride back towards those he truly wanted to be with, his ponytail was snatched up once more with an infallible grip that yanked him back hard enough that he nearly tripped and fell. He yelped as he stumbled to stay on his feet, cringing from the pain in his scalp as his father resumed dragging him towards the exit and where he assumed the car was parked. He screamed for his father to let him go, to free him and forget about him, but as his father stormed through the front doors of the school towards a large rental car, he knew he was running out of time.

"I hope you like strict rules and strong punishments because that's going to be your world for the foreseeable future. You'll learn that defying me was the wrong decision and the only reason I will loosen the noose around your neck is when you play and win for Yōsen. That is the final rule!" His father snarled, stopping at the car as he opened the back door and threw Atsushi inside.

Despite being 6'10, a full inch taller than his father, his father was stronger since he was fully developed and had two decades more than him of strength on top of it. He was literally tossed into the backseat, nearly smashing the top of his head against the window of the opposite door and he sucked his ankles inside just in time to avoid having them smashed by the slamming door. It was cramped in the back, barely giving him enough room to flip over and crawl to the door, but when he grabbed the handle to open it, nothing happened. He tried unlocking it with a hard push of the button, but again, nothing happened. The locks had been set to childproof and he had no idea how to get the door open.

However, his struggling ceased when he looked up at the school's doors to see his mother, his uncle, Tatsuki and a horde of students filing out. His mother was cry, as was Tatsuki, but his uncle was fuming and screaming at his father and successfully getting his attention. While they screamed, Tatsuki broke free and ran for the car and watching her, his chest pinged with an ache he never wished to feel again.

"Muro-Chin! Open the door!" Atsushi called out to her through the window, slapping his open palm against the glass as she reached the car and tried pulling open the door.

However, the door didn't open.

"Muro-Chin!... Let me out! I don't wanna go!" Atsushi yelled, hoping with all his hopes that she could hear him.

"Atsu!... I can't! It won't open!" She yelled back, yanking hard again with an attempt at opening the door.

He slapped the window, "I don't wanna go, Muro-Chin! I wanna stay with you!"

"I can't get it open, Atsu! He's coming! Please get out!" Tatsuki cried, trying with clear desperation to get the door open.

Looking passed her, he saw his father grab his mother's arm and begin to drag her towards the car while his uncle screamed at him. His face was fuming, so angry that he swore it was made of fire itself and he knew then, that he only had seconds to say what he truly wanted to say.

"I love you, Tatsuki! I always will! No matter the distance, no matter how long we're apart, I'll always love you! We made a promise that I intend to keep!" Atsushi yelled through the window, firmly planting his hand on the glass where she put hers over his.

"I love you too, Atsu! A promise is a promise! We'll see each other again!" She cried, her tears pouring from her eyes in droves.

The first of his tears leaped free of his violet eyes as he stared at her, wanting to wrap her up in his arms, but trapped inside the car, his whole body began to shake with so many emotions that he couldn't pinpoint what they were. He was angry, sad, terrified and everything in between and all he wanted was to kiss her and tell her it would be alright. In a single instant, in a single minute, everything he had come to love and enjoy was being taken away and all because of a boy whom couldn't stop his desire for more power. Everything was happening so fast, so incredibly fast that all he could manage to do was drop his forehead to the glass and stare at her as he started to cry.

"Tatsuki... Get him back." Atsushi cried, hiccuping as Tatsuki dropped her forehead to the glass as well.

She nodded, "I will, Atsu... I'll do everything I can. I'll stop him." She sniffled hard.

Atsushi nodded in return as his mother and father began to get into the car, his mother sobbing into her hands while his father swore under his breath. There was so many tears, so many hiccuped breaths that that was all he could hear and when the driver's door slammed shut, and the car started, Atsushi lifted his head from the window and stared at her.

In all his years of playing basketball, being one of the most powerful on the court, he had never felt so weak, so powerless that all he could do was look into her eyes. He had known true happiness for a single moment, known what it was like to smile so genuinely, so honestly that he felt like he could fly. Tatsuki Himuro was his world, his sole reason he had discovered what he truly enjoyed and she had taught him without a second thought. She had taught him how to care for a farm, helped him birth a newborn calf and she had been his first to enjoy the idea of being intimate. Everything they had ever done together flashed through his head, from the time he was sick to their horseback ride. He remembered their first cupcake, their first kiss, their first time together and as his father started to drive away, Atsushi's crying eyes never left hers.

As his father drove away from the life he truly wanted, all Atsushi Murasakibara could do was cry for the second time as everything he ever truly loved was torn away.

As she stood there in the chilled evening, watching the dark colored SUV drive away with far too much speed, Tatsuki's eyes poured tears as Hiroshi came up to her and wrapped his arms around her in comfort. They both cried, quietly sobbed as they watched the car go and only when it was fully out of sight was when they tried to even bother to speak.

"I-I... I don't know what to do. I love him so much, but I don't know how to keep my promise." Tatsuki said, sniffling hard as she began to dry her eyes.

"You know exactly what do you, Tatty. That little shit did this on purpose and he needs to be stopped." Hiroshi said, his low voice cracking with his emotions.

Tatsuki nodded, "This is his fault... Shirō did this. He's gone too far this time and it's up to me to stop him. Are you gonna be okay with the farm?" She asked, stepping away from Hiroshi's comfort to look him in the eye.

Hiroshi nodded, "Yeah... I'll make it. I always do." He said, resting his hands down on Tatsuki's shoulders.

"Don't give in to him while I'm gone." Tatsuki said, her sobs quickly beginning to calm as she looked passed the broken man to glare at Shirō whom was grinning with his ill gotten victory.

Hiroshi nodded, "I won't. Your father won't let me."

"Good... Because I'm going to law school to follow in my father's footsteps and I'm going stop Shirō."

Her mind was made up. There was no changing it now. What Shirō had done was unforgivable, was so painful that it would be a wound that would sting for years to come. She knew it would, but what made the sting lessen, what made it hurt less, was knowing she was going to keep her promise with the boy she loved. No matter the distance, no matter how long they were apart, Atsushi and Tatsuki would find a way.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

His room hadn't changed. Nothing had been moved since the day he'd been kicked out so many months ago. His closet was still ruffled, his dresser drawers still had the wayward sock poking out when he had slammed it closed and his bed was still unmade. The entire time he was gone, his bedroom door had been closed and no one, not even his mother, had gone in.

Even after the weeks he had been forcefully dragged back to Akita, he hadn't done anything other than sit and sleep in his room, tossing the dirty clothes into the hamper, doing the laundry when needed and even though he no longer had to, he still woke up at 3am because it had become habit. Even without his alarm, he would wake on his own into the dark of his room, sitting up to look and stare out the window and watch the moon crawl across the sky. He would sit there in his blankets and count the stars, eventually giving up when he would lose which ones he had already counted and once the sky had finally begun to lighten with the coming of dawn, he would roust from his nest and begin his day.

Yōsen was strict, formal; A school for those whom believed in faith and had come from prominent families. His family was prominent, known in the business field thanks to his father and the moment he had stepped through the academy doors of Yōsen High, everyone already knew whom he was. He mindlessly went to basketball practice, mindlessly played in games without a single thought rolling through his head and even though they were just about guaranteed a victory, he felt nothing. Without Tatsuki to share it with, he was numb, but as he walked the sidewalk to return home from a long day at school, he stopped at the mailbox of his house and froze when he saw familiar handwriting.

Atsushi's dull eyes widened as he pulled out the stack of mail, unable to look away from the letter with his handwritten name on it. It was her writing, he knew it without having to think and suddenly feeling the need to rush, he darted for his front door.

He burst into the wide open floor plan of his home and shut the door a bit harder than needed, not even seeing his mother staring at him from the kitchen as he dropped his bag off, kicked off his shoes and ran upstairs to his room. He shut the door, again with a bit too much strength and as he dropped down onto his bed with a bounce, he tore open the letter and pulled out the neatly folded piece of crisp paper.

 _Atsushi,_

 _I know that it's been a few weeks since you were dragged away, and I know it's taken me this long to write you. Things here have gotten... crazy, I guess would be the right word. My dad is fighting tooth and nail to keep your uncle's farm safe, and so far, he's been successful, but I don't know how much longer it can last._

 _Shirō's gotten out of control. After you left, his family managed to snag two more farms and the families were forced to move away, but my dad's noticing small things that can help him fight back for all of us. It's been a lot of work, and he's spread thin, so that's why I've made up my mind; I'm going to law school._

 _I wasn't sure how to tell you, but I guess this was easier? Maybe that's the wrong word, but it's true. I don't think I could have told you face to face because I'd break down crying. I've always wanted to have my own bakery, but seeing what Shirō did to you; did to us, I can't let it slide. I have to do this and I hope with all my hopes that you understand. I will try so hard to write you, but I don't know how often I'll be able to. This is new territory for me, but know this, Atsu... I love you. I always will and it will never fade. It's almost Valentine's Day, and I wish we could have been together so we could spoil each other and be together, but Fate, it seems, has thought other wise._

 _I'm sorry, Atsu. I really am, but I love you and I need to do this to keep the promise we made to each other the day you left. Maybe one day, we'll get to pick up where we left off._

 _I love you, Atsu. Always._

 _Love,_

 _Tatty-cakes._

He hadn't realized it, but his eyes had begun to water while he read, shedding small, barely visible tears down his cheeks that clung to his jawline. It was the first time in weeks he had begun to smile, to feel in general and he was awash with emotions he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever. He was happy, sad, angry, all of it, but above all, he felt love that he couldn't have. In all these weeks since, he had wanted to hold her, to sleep with her in his arms, only to be denied it, but getting to read her handwriting, read her words, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was real. He had feared that it had all been a dream and getting to hold that simple piece of paper that she had held, it made her real and he began to feel again.

Wiping away his tears, Atsushi smiled as he held the letter and looked out his window, actually seeing the grayness outside instead of what could have been a painting for all he cared. He saw the traffic, the other houses surrounding his and the people walking along the street, but when a soft, timid knock rapped against his door, his smile vanished and he quickly dried his eyes.

"Yes?" He said just loud enough so his voice would reach through the door.

The doorknob turned and his door began to open, but he knew whom it was because his father never would have knocked. It was his mother, quiet and wearing an apron which told him she was getting ready to start making dinner.

"Is everything alright, Honey?" She asked, poking her head into his room to spot him sitting on his bed.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah. I was... um... reading a letter I got from a friend." He said, not really wanting to go into too much detail.

"Is it from that girl?" His mother asked, standing up straight and fully stepping into his room.

"Yeah... Her name's Tatsuki Himuro... Well, that's the name she goes by." He said, hiding his sniffle behind his sleeve as he watched his mother walk over and sit down on the edge of his bed.

"Is everything alright?" She asked softly.

"Yeah... She said she's decided to go to law school for agricultural law. I'm happy for her." He said, curling his knees into his chest and still with the letter clutched in his hand.

"Good for her." His mother said.

As they sat in silence, Atsushi studied his mother's expression, how distant her violet eyes looked and how standoffish she was sitting. She wasn't close to him, rather, sitting a couple feet away, but she was leaning on her arm in his direction.

"What's wrong, Mom?" He asked, earning a brief glance from her.

She sighed, "Sweetie... This may not mean much, but... I want you to know how sorry I am for what happened. You know I don't have a lot of pull when it comes to your father and I would have stopped it if I could." She said, looking at him with sad eyes.

"Why do you stay with him? He isn't a good man." Atsushi said ultra quietly out of fear of his voice carrying down the hall to his father's study.

"He is though, Honey. I stay because he gave me you and your brothers and your sister. For that, I will always love him." She said, producing a soft smile.

"But we hate him. None of us talk to him. We don't want to." He said, resting his chin down on his knees.

"I can't tell you not to, but know that your father has always wanted the best for you kids. I know he isn't good at showing it, but he really does love you guys." She said.

Atsushi airily sniffled, "I wanna believe you, but he took me away from there. I liked it there." He said with a crackle in his voice.

"I know you did, Sweetie," she smiled, "Can I make a request of you?" She asked, sniffling herself as she dabbed her eyes with her apron.

"I guess." He shrugged.

"Talk to him. I wanna have dinner as a family again." She said, sitting up to reach out and put her hand down on his knee.

"And say what?" He asked.

"Whatever you want."

With another smile, she stood up and patted his knee before stepping out of his room, leaving the door open into the dimly lit hallway. He knew where his father was, being down at the end of the hall and in his study where he usually spent his evenings till dinner was called. It was his way, his space to finish up with work and be alone, but hearing his mother's words, how her eyes looked so sincere, he wanted to try to talk to the man he hadn't said more than two words to in the last several weeks.

He uncurled himself and stood up, padding out of his room and turned down the hall to the closed, double wide door. His stomach lightly flipped with nerves, as the last time he had spoken with his father it was to yell at him, but just as he raised a fist to knock, he heard the barest sound of a sniffle.

His brows furrowing, Atsushi leaned in close to the door to listen, hearing the softest of weeping sounds from inside and it confused him. His father didn't cry, never even showed emotions, but he knew what he was hearing. It spurred him on.

"Dad?" He called out softly, rapping his knuckles against the door softly.

"Come in." He heard in his father's typical gruff voice.

Steeling his nerves, Atsushi began to open the door, unsure of what he was going to see, but poking his head inside, all he saw was the back of his father's office chair. He was looking out the window at the neighborhood outside and without the barrier of the door, the man's clear sniffles weren't lost to his ears.

"Dad?... A-Are you okay?" He asked, braving a step inside and shutting the door behind him.

Another hard sniffle sounded as the leather of the chair groaned and when it began to turn, Atsushi's suspicions were confirmed; His father, the infallible, immovable man he had always feared, was crying with a letter and a picture in hand.

"Dad?... What's wrong?" Atsushi asked, slowly sitting down in the chair on the other side of the desk from him.

"Atsushi... Did you know you were an uncle?" His father asked, looking up from the pages in his hand to look at his youngest son with his reddened eyes.

Atsushi held his breath, but nodded, "Yeah... Hanaka had her baby about six months ago."

His father's bottom lip slightly quivered, "I-I... I'm a grandfather?"

Atsushi just nodded as he picked at his fingernails.

Swallowing passed the lump in his throat, his father pulled the photo from his hand and put it down on his desk, sliding it across towards Atsushi to see the smiling baby frozen in time. The baby was his niece; a young baby girl that his eldest sibling, his sister, had given birth to only six months ago. Her and her husband had been ecstatic, elated to the point of child-like giddiness when they had found out they were expecting and when Atsushi and his three older brothers had been told, their own excitement had joined theirs. All the children kept in close contact, and it had been up to Atsushi to keep their mother informed since he was the last one to remain in the Murasakibara nest, but when it came to their father, no one, not even he, wanted to keep the man in the loop.

"Cute, huh." Atsushi breathed out as he barely smiled at the photo of the happy, purple eyed baby with a shaggy mess of black hair splashed over her head.

His father sniffled, "Very... She looks like Hanaka did the day she was born." He said, pulling a tissue from its box that rested on the side of the desk.

Atsushi's brows lightly furrowed, "Y-You were there?"

His father nodded to buy him time to finish blowing his nose and dry his face.

"I was. I was there for all five of you and I remember each one as if they were yesterday." He said, drawing in a steady breath as he shifted his eyes down to look at the photo.

"R-Really?" Atsushi exhaled.

For as long as Atsushi could remember, since his first true memory, there was one thing that he couldn't recall ever seeing and that was his father smiling. However, as he sat there looking the man in the eye for the longest time in his life, that very man had begun to smile.

"Yes... The day you were born, it was the longest labor out of all of you. We were in the hospital for 37 hours and when you were finally born, you weighed 26 pounds. You were so big that the doctors had to do a C-Section, but despite that, you cried for only a second before falling asleep." His father said with his smile persisting through each word he spoke.

"Who held me first?" Atsushi asked quietly, actually wanting to keep his father talking to see more of his smile.

"I did."

Atsushi's heart fluttered as his father's words sunk in, how his aged eyes that he had always seen dull and angry were actually uplifted and content. He looked like a different man, a man he had always wished his father to be, but sitting there across from him, seeing those new eyes, he had suddenly began to feel guilty.

"D-Dad... I'm sorry I didn't tell you that Hanaka had her baby. I-It's just... It's just-" Atsushi tried to find the words, but couldn't.

"I know... My children don't want to have anything to do with me and I only have myself to blame." His father said quietly.

Atsushi exhaled, "C-Can I be honest?"

"Of course."

"We don't," he took a much needed breath, "We don't talk to you because we don't like you. We thought you didn't want us talking to you unless it was to tell you we were successful, or that we had won a game. We don't feel like we can approach you." Atsushi said, ignoring the rapid beating in his chest.

"I know... All I've ever wanted for my children is for them to have a better life than I, to be successful, but look what it cost me; My beloved children hate me." His father said as his sad eyes began to return.

"I-It's not that we hate you, Dad; It's that we don't know how to please you." Atsushi said.

"Atsushi, I spent my years trying desperately to please my father, and since we're being honest here, I'll tell you that I never got it. My father didn't care about anything else, other than absolute success, and if I did less, than I paid for it. Till his dying day, I never got my father's approval because I never surpassed him." His father said as he leaned back in his large office chair.

Atsushi just sat quietly while his father continued.

"I thought that, maybe, if I had mimicked my father's methods, than my own children wouldn't strive so hard trying to please me, but in the end, all I managed to do was push you all away. I failed you all as a father and," he held his breath for a moment, "and I don't know how to make up for it." He said, keeping his shimmering eyes locked with his youngest son's.

"If I knew where you could begin, I'd tell you, but I don't know either." Atsushi said with a small shrug.

"I understand. Perhaps starting with an apology would point me in the right direction?" His father asked.

"Maybe." Atsushi half shrugged.

"Then Atsushi; I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was so hard on all of you; Always pushing and forcing you to do things that you truly didn't want to do. I'm sorry that I wasn't a better father to you. I should have supported you and allowed you to make your own decisions." His father said as his eyes began to glimmer once more with building tears.

Atsushi's chest hurt the more he listened to his father's words, hearing the sincerity in them as he spoke. He had always been a man whose words were honest, no matter how mean they sounded, or how few they were. His words were always rule, always so solid that the strongest of winds couldn't whisk them away, but the one thing he had never heard him say, was 'I'm sorry.'

"D-Dad... I'm sorry too for the things I said before going to Uncle Hiroshi's. I was angry." Atsushi said, looking down at his lap where his fingers hadn't stopped picking at his fingernails.

"As was I. I didn't know you didn't like basketball and it's my own fault. I didn't see it." His father said.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's that I don't wanna do it for the rest of my life." Atsushi said, looking back up at his father.

"Do you know what you wish to do?" His father asked.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah... I wanna be a baker with my own shop. I know it seems small, but... I like it; Love it actually. Muro-Chin and I were really good at it."

"The girl from your uncle's?" His father asked, lacing his fingers together in his lap.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah. I miss her."

"You have every right to. From what your mother has told me, you and her were close." His father said, reaching up to grip and rub the back of his neck.

"Mom told you?" He asked, intrigued by what he was hearing.

His father nodded, "She did. She told me everything she knew." He sighed and dropped his arm into his lap once more.

"I didn't know she could talk to you. You always said that women are supposed to serve their husbands." Atsushi said quietly.

"My father's views and something I, in turn, picked up. However, it would seem that those views are too old fashioned to hold weight this day and age." His father said with a slow exhale that was drawn out and silent.

"Time's change, Dad." Atsushi said.

"It would seem so, and I have been too shortsighted to accept that fact. I hadn't realized it until I saw that photo. I missed out on meeting my own grand-baby because of my stubbornness." His father said.

"There's still a chance if you change now." Atsushi said.

His father let out a long and heavy sigh, one that filled the quiet of the office study with the whoosh of air that quickly vanished back into the silence. In all his years, raising five children and making sure that their foundations for a strong future were set whether they liked it, or not, he had been so focused on that, that he had missed everything else. It was like he was caught in the shadow of his father, spending his entire lifetime trying to prove to the long passed ghost that he could do it, but because of it, he had scarred his children. It was his mistake and one that he would have to live with for the rest of his life, but now that he sat across from his youngest son, the last of his brood, his offspring, perhaps it was his childrens' turn to lift him up.

With another sigh, his father's sad eyes eased into a gentleness that was still too new to believe, but as the man started to smile, perhaps a new light had begun to flicker.

"So baking, hmm? Like cakes, pastries and candies?" His father asked as the atmosphere in the office study began to feel lighter.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah. And everything in between," he huffed a smiled, "You should try Muro-Chin's lava cupcakes sometime. I've never had something so good."

"Lava cupcakes?... I'll admit; Those sound very good." His father said with the briefest widening of his light smile.

"They aren't really hard. I-I... I can make some for you sometime, if you want." Atsushi half shrugged.

"I think I would like that." His father smiled.

"Then come to the store with me. We can get the ingredients and I can show you." Atsushi said as he pushed himself up to his feet.

"What? Now?" His father mildly reeled.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah. All you have to do is follow my lead."

"And pay for it, I'd imagine." His father actually smirked.

Atsushi lowly laughed, "That would help."

His father continued to smile as he slowly shook his head, turning his office chair just enough to look out the window at the cold and gray day. Life seemed peaceful outside that window and as he sat there in his office with his youngest son, perhaps it was a peace he could obtain inside as well.

"Eh, what the hell. I'll get my coat." His father said, exhaling a long breath as he stood and picked up the photo of his granddaughter to slip it into his wallet.

Atsushi's lips immediately spread into a wide smile as he followed his father from the office, trudging down the stairs into the common living space where his mother was scrubbing some dishes. She looked up and smiled at Atsushi as the two put on their coats and with a silent goodbye, they stepped out the front door and into the cool air of the winter's day.

Getting into the front seat of his father's car, Atsushi pulled out a small notepad and a pen where he began to jot down the things he would need for the cupcakes. In all this time, he never forgot Tatsuki's recipe and with each word he wrote, he was reminded of her. He wished she was there with him, but he understood why she wasn't, and he was happy for her in her own decision. He wasn't sure if they could keep their promise, but in some, small way, he felt like he was carrying on by using her recipe.

Together, they had come up with a whole cookbook's worth of recipes that were their own, but having been dragged away like he had been, he didn't have it. He wished he could, if at all to have something of hers with him at all times, but there was nothing he could do about it now. All he could do was make his own, and as his father started the car and began to back out, he decided that's what he was going to do.

Not much was said in the car on the way to the nearest market, and even less was said at the store while Atsushi gathered the things he needed from the shelves with his father in tow. He picked up the sugar and the cocoa, all while his father just watched and followed like a loyal child. He looked out of place, a bit lost, and as he softly laughed, pulling a small bottle of vanilla from the shelf, his father looked at him with a popped brow.

"What's so funny?" His father asked, his hands in his pockets to refrain from touching anything out of curiosity.

"You look uncomfortable." Atsushi said, his smile evening out as he put the bottle down into the hand basket hanging on his arm.

"Would you laugh even harder if I said this was the first time I've been to the grocery store without your mother?" He said, sadly smirking with a lopsided smile as he gripped the back of his neck.

"I won't. I've known you too long to be surprised." Atsushi said as he continued down the aisle and scratched off the vanilla from his list.

"I know... I've been an idiot, Atsushi. I have so many apologies to hand out, that it's almost easier to just... stay the way I am." His father said, stuffing his hand back into his pocket as he followed his son.

"Nothing worth it is ever easy, Dad." Atsushi said with a glance back over his shoulder.

"That is very true." His father said, following a few steps behind.

Atsushi's own words struck a cord in his chest as his mind recited the words he had read from Tatsuki's letter. When he had first read them, he had been filled with hope, with love, but now that he thought about them, there was a far different meaning be hadn't seen. He understood why she had made her decision, but that didn't change the fact that he felt hurt and alone. She was leaving to save her way of life, and it meant that she was leaving him behind as well. He wanted to be angry, if at all to make it easier to cope with, but the fact was, was that it pained him to know that he wouldn't get to kiss her again, to hold her again and to be with her again. He and Tatsuki were no longer and even though his heart ached, squeezed with that dull pang every beat, that anger that would make it easier never came.

It wasn't until he felt his father's hand on his shoulder that he was jolted from his head, realizing that he had yet to take the sugar off the shelf and had frozen where he stood. He dared a glance at his father, whose eyes were strangely kind, soft; A far cry from the usual sneer he usually wore. It was almost like his father was two different people, a Jekyll and Hyde as it were, but the man standing next to him, comforting him, was the man he had always wanted in his life.

"I could say that it was better to love and lost, than never to have loved at all, but if I were to ever lose your mother for even the simplest of things, I would crumble." His father said, taking his hand away from his son's shoulder.

"She's put up with a lot of your crap, Dad." Atsushi said, starting to move again and putting the sugar carton in the hand basket.

"She has... You all have, but it's what was behind the scenes you didn't see that kept her from leaving." His father said, slipping his hand back into his pocket.

"How so?" Atsushi asked.

"Every night before we'd go to sleep, I've always told her that I love her and every morning is always greeted with a kiss. Do you remember coming home from school and sometimes there would be flowers sitting on the dining table?" His father asked with a gentle smile.

Atsushi nodded as he continued down the aisle.

"They were from me to your mother. Sometimes, I'd send her flowers just because she's my wife and the mother of my children. You never saw it because I was so insistent on pushing you all and unfortunately, I didn't listen to your mother." His father said as he released a slow sigh.

"That would have been nice to know. I don't like thinking that my dad is someone I don't wanna be." Atsushi said.

"Don't be like me. All my years and everything I've done, if it results in you not being like me, than I was successful. None of my children are like me and for that, I couldn't be prouder." His father said with the barest growing of his smile.

That was the one word his father never used, never even attributed it to any aspect of their lives. He had resolved himself in thinking that he would never hear his father say such a thing in regards to his children, never expected to ever please his father, or make him proud. It was all starting to make sense; His father's reasoning behind being the man he portrayed. Years ago, Atsushi had made the decision and accepted that he would never make his father proud. Just like his father had wanted.

"D-Dad-" he exhaled, "Dad, I wanna make you proud of me. Not because I play basketball for Yōsen, but because of what I've done in my life." Atsushi said, stopping at the end of the aisle to look his father in the eyes instead of at his feet.

"You've already done that. I may not agree with your uncle's... life, but he taught you something I never could. He taught you to be real and true to yourself and that was the final piece. My methods may not be widely accepted, but now that this man stands before me?... I'm gleaming with pride that he's my son." His father smiled.

Atsushi's breath caught in his throat, "You haven't called me your son since the day I left." He briefly smiled.

"Yet another one of my mistakes. I have a beautiful daughter and 4 amazing sons that I hope I get to show off to the world. Where I wasn't very good at raising children, your mother, it seems, did an amazing job." His father said.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah."

Both softly sighed as Atsushi resumed the task of gathering the needed items, finding the last few things he needed in the dairy section where the chilled cream cheese was kept. He put the couple of packages into the basket before heading back towards the front of the store to checkout, and once his father had paid, never once complaining at the cost, both headed out to the car and headed home.

As his father shut the front door, Atsushi toed off his shoes and headed into the kitchen, setting their pair of bags down on the counter and pulled out each item. Having spent as long as he did with his uncle, he had memorized the recipe, and after slipping on an apron without batting an eye, he began to work while his father watched.

Unbeknownst to him, as he worked with ease, his father watched with wonderment struck in his eyes. He had seen his son's prowess on the court; His ferocity, his determination to win and the way he actually scared his opponents, but in the kitchen, that same confidence and skill was present. Despite his son's size, his astounding statue, his large hands worked the same way they worked a basketball. He mixed the batter, preheated the oven, prepared the cups, all without hesitation, or a stutter in his steps. His father was completely amazed as he watched from the dining table and when Atsushi slipped the first batch into the heated oven, he could already smell the delightful aroma of chocolate and light cream.

"I had no idea you were just as skilled in the kitchen as you were on the court. You're so confident." His father said as Atsushi shut the oven and set the timer.

"You always said put your all into whatever we do, so I do." Atsushi said, slipping off the oven mitt and setting it down on the counter.

"I can see that," he sighed, "Atsushi... I want to make a deal with you." His father said as he stood, coming eye level with the tallest of his children.

"A deal? What deal?" Atsushi asked, lightly furrowing his brows as he leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms.

"So long as you continue to put your all into this, your baking, I want to be apart of it. I'm offering to pay for your tuition for culinary school." His father said.

Atsushi's eyes widened, "D-Dad?... I-I... I can't accept that. What would everyone else think? You didn't help them with school." He said, not moving a muscle out of shock.

"Actually," he started to smile, "I did." His father said.

Atsushi's mind went entirely blank as he stared at his father, not even breathing, or blinking his eyes. He had never thought, or seen any sort of offer made by his father growing up, as his older brothers and his older sister had never said anything to such a degree before they had all left the Murasakibara nest. He had always thought that his father wanted them to pay their own way when the time came, but now that he thought about it, all his older siblings had managed to go to university without trouble.

It all suddenly made sense.

"D-Dad... You've paid for everyone." Atsushi finally breathed out, his lips agape with shock that persisted no matter what he did.

His father nodded, "I did." He smiled.

"I didn't know." Atsushi said, uncrossing his arms to grip the meat of his shoulders.

"As planned. I never told each of your siblings until it was their time, and that's when they put two and two together. I felt as if I was attempting to buy their love, but I know that's not the case. I wanted them to have their foundations and that includes you." His father said simply.

"D-Dad-" Atsushi tried to speak, but found the words had caught in his throat.

"There's no need for words, Atsushi. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but the one thing I don't regret is having the five of you as my children and supporting you from backstage. Even at sixteen, you are already so independent and capable of so much. I'm proud of you, Son." His father said as his eyes became glassy and shiny.

All Atsushi could do was swallow through the small space that was left in his throat. He had never thought he would ever earn that word, had resolved that it was just a pipe dream, but there was so much about his father he hadn't realized and he felt like an idiot because of it. He felt as if he should have seen it, should have gotten even the smallest of glimpses of it, but it wasn't until he had taken a step back, had gone to his uncle's in the countryside that he had seen the whole picture.

His father loved him wholly and truly.

As the kitchen began to smell like the baking cupcakes, Atsushi finally realized that the oven's timer had gone off and he began to move as he put on the oven mitt and opened the oven door. The moment he did, both were hit with the warm and delectable scent of chocolate as he pulled out the cupcakes and they had browned and risen into perfect fluffy plateaus. He smiled down at them as he placed them on the stove top to cool and as his father stepped up next to him to admire them, both smiled as his father rested a hand down on his back.

"They're beautiful. I'm impressed." His father said, patting his youngest son's back before taking his hand back.

"Thanks." Atsushi said.

"You're welcome. Have you thought about which school you want to go to?" His father asked, turning around to lean back against the counter.

Atsushi nodded, "There's a culinary school in Tokyo I wanna go to. They have an acclaimed baking program that looks really good."

"I didn't give you enough credit. You're smarter than you look." His father smiled.

"Don't go spreading it around. I have a reputation to maintain." Atsushi grinned as he clamped his teeth down onto the tongue bar to expose the purple ball.

However, the moment he did, he realized that there were still secrets that had yet to be told, and he froze solid as his father's brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. He had never told his father about the tongue piercing, neither did his mother for that matter and now that he had absentmindedly exposed his dirty little secret, he had some explaining to do.

"Atsushi... What is that?" His father asked dully as he popped an eyebrow over his eye.

"Um... A tongue piercing?" Atsushi cringed as he gripped the back of his neck.

"When did you get that?" His father asked, crossing his arms.

Atsushi gulped, "L-Last year?" His voice kept rising up at the end of his sentences as if he was asking his father for the right answer.

"How?" His father asked.

"Uh... Mom took me for my birthday. It helps to keep focused." Atsushi said, cringing again as he waited for the backlash.

"Uh huh-" his father breathed, "Somehow, that's fitting for you." He said as he continued to glare and try not to smile at how his son was so unnerved.

Atsushi began to breathe again, "Not mad?"

"No... Not mad. I'd only be upset if I don't get to try one of these cupcakes. They smell delicious." His father said, turning around to look down at the puffy chocolate confections.

"That's what I said the first time Muro-Chin and I made them. I didn't even wait for the tops to get put on before trying one." Atsushi said as he started to relax.

"Do I have to?" His father asked.

"No. Go right ahead." Atsushi said.

Atsushi's father smirked with a crooked grin as he scanned the cupcakes and decided on the perfect one; the corner one with the roundest, puffiest top on it that looked like a dark brown cloud. He carefully picked it out of the pan, cradling it almost as if it was fragile and he feared it crumbling if he wasn't careful. It was still warm, still so soft and it felt like air and when he brought it to his mouth and bit down, instantly having his mouth filled with the gooey filling of sweet cream cheese, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Damn his son could bake.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **5 years later**

Tokyo was many things. It was a bustling mecca, a metropolis that never slept and was a haven for prosperity that had touched so many. Millions flock to it with the hopes of finding their niche, hoping to settle into a place where they can prosper and thrive, but that privilege is often reserved for only a few; For those whom are willing to fight for it.

Many know this lesson all too well, but for a small bakery in the heart of downtown, all it had ever known was prosperity ever since opening its doors only a single year ago. Every morning, the street was filled with the scent of freshly baked croissants and bagels, morning turnovers and jelly filled doughnuts. The coffee was always rich and for those whom wished tea, there was even an assortment of loose leaf for them to choose from. The scent alone drew dozens in the first hour, but far earlier in the morning is when the Tatty-Cakes Bakery's owner would rise.

The sun had yet to brighten the sky still filled with billions of stars that sparkled like tiny untouchable gems, barely held at bay by the glow of the silver moon that hung just above the morning horizon. The streets were in that brief moment of calm just before the morning began to wake, but one inside his apartment above the Tatty-Cakes Bakery, his day was just beginning.

Atsushi Murasakibara had been awake for nearly an hour, sitting at his small dining table with a cup of coffee and his morning paper. It was his morning routine to wake up early, somewhere around 3am, and enjoy the morning calm before heading downstairs to his quaint little shop. It allowed him to think, to reflect on how five years had changed so much and how much his relationship with his father had grown. He had kept to his offer to pay for his tuition and after that, he had extended his hand of apology to the rest of his children. Five years had begun to heal the wounds left behind, and he had never lost touch with his uncle, but not a day went by that he didn't think about _her_.

He had written her back after receiving that one letter, but he had never received another from her no matter how much he had wished it. Everyday he walked home from school, he would check the mail, hoping with all hope to see another addressed to him, but everyday, there was nothing. He had kept that letter, kept it safe in a small lockbox he kept in his closet, but it had been so long since he had looked at it, that its words had faded from memory. The one and only time he had heard from Tatsuki Himuro was five years ago.

As Atsushi finished his coffee, he set down his paper and went to the kitchen to put his mug in the sink, brushing a hand back through his shoulder length purple hair to push the chin length bangs out of his face. It was damp from his morning shower and with a few passes of his fingers, he gathered it up and pulled it back into a ponytail.

He padded to his bedroom where he shed his bathrobe and tossed it onto his made bed before putting on his slacks and plain white t-shirt that helped to hide the copious amounts of flour that tended to get on his clothes while he worked. He sat down and slipped on his comfortable sneakers before rummaging through the pile of clean laundry he had yet to fold and put away. He dug out a long apron that he slung over his arm and with a final check in the mirror, he put his wallet into his back pants pocket, picked up his keys from the dining table and headed out the door.

There was a benefit to living above his own shop, and that was that his commute to work was short and sweet. He trudged down the stairs and unlocked the heavy door at the bottom that lead out into the darkened kitchen of the Tatty-Cakes Bakery. It was pitch dark, only broken by a small nightlight he kept plugged into the wall near his large stand mixer. He reached to the side and flicked on the lights, illuminating the stainless steel of his bakery's kitchen. He slipped the neck loop of his apron over his head as he stepped in and closed the door, easily tying the strings in the back to secure it to his torso before going to the front of the bakery to prepare the coffee and espresso machines for the day.

He filled the filters with fresh coffee grounds, smiling as he drew in a deep lungful that was filled with the earthy richness of the roasted beans. It was invigorating, energizing and a scent that he come to love during his time in culinary school. He filled the water trough with filtered water and with a simple flick of a long finger, the machine switched on to begin its lengthy brew. He wet a rag to wipe down the front display case, making sure the glass was as clear as the water he used to make his coffee and once that was done, it was time to set to work in the kitchen.

He readied the flour, the yeast, and preheat all five of his large ovens before beginning to mix up the morning's batch of fresh croissants, perfectly twisting them into crescents before setting aside a portion to press out flat by hand. He cut even strips of the fragile and flaky dough before putting them in the enormous fridge to keep cool while he mixed up the fruit flavored jelly with his large mixer. He added flavor and gelatin to make it gooey and thick before pulling out the strips and smearing healthy amounts of it over each one until it was gone. He folded them expertly before putting them into the oven with the croissants and once that was done, he set to prepare the rest of the day's treats.

He mixed up cake batter ranging from vanilla to strawberry to chocolate, but today was a special day, as it was the day his renowned chocolate lava cupcakes would be available. He made the cream cheese filling, the light and airy whipped topping and once the batter was readied, he put the right amounts into each paper cup. The entire time the morning aged and he never once stopped smiling.

As it came time to open for the day, Atsushi cleaned himself up and unlocked the door before switching on his open sign. He turned on the small dining room lights to help light his storefront before setting out a couple display cases and his sandwich bored to advertise his special of the day. The sun had just begun to brighten the day and just like every morning, the people of Tokyo took notice of the Tatty-Cakes Bakery.

No more than twenty minutes after he opened, the morning rush began to file in, lining up out the door just to get a coffee and breakfast, many with the hopes of snagging one of the Tatty-Cakes famous chocolate lava cupcakes. It was a busy morning, but one he had gotten used to and enjoyed.

As the morning rush died down, giving Atsushi the time he needed to prepare and bake more pastries and treats, the entry bell on the front door sounded, drawing his attention back to the front, but as he reached the doorway with no door, he stopped and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're late, Lora-Chin." He said dully, somewhat glaring at the small woman whom was huffing and puffing.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Murasakibara!" She prattled off quickly, shutting the door and unzipping her thin coat to show her t-shirt printed with the logo for the bakery; A cupcake with the paper cup printed with the bakery's name.

"You didn't call." Atsushi said, just watching her set her purse and coat into the cubbyhole beneath the register as he leaned up against the door frame.

"I was running! I missed the bus this morning because it came early and then-" She started to ramble off until Atsushi held up a hand.

"Buses aren't early, or late, Lora-Chin." He said with no emotion showing on his face.

The small woman with jet black hair and dark eyes the shade of obsidian sighed as she hung her head and covered her face with her hands. She was barely tall enough to come up to his chest and she was so thin that Atsushi felt like he needed to stuff a few cupcakes down her throat just to ensure she would live. He had hired her on a few months ago, needing the help to run the bakery since its popularity was growing faster than he could keep up. She was a good worker, but was often scatterbrained as she juggled work, college classes and her studies. He usually had to snap her out of her daydreaming and when he did, she usually got flustered and fluttered about to make up for it. She was exhausting to work with at times, but she listened and his customers liked her which was enough for him to keep her around.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Murasakibara. I really am. I overslept because I was studying for my midterms last night and lost track of time." She mumbled, hanging her head and bowing with the hopes of being forgiven.

Atsushi lightly sighed, "Make sure it doesn't happen again... Or just call next time."

"Yes, Mr. Murasakibara!" She barked loudly as she stayed low in her deep bow.

"Man the front for awhile. I've gotta bake more sweets." Atsushi said, standing up straight from the open door frame and uncrossing his arms.

"I've got it." She said, finally rising from her bow to start work.

Atsushi quietly and slowly exhaled as he watched her for a moment, letting his head settle as she slipped on an apron with the same logo embroidered on its front. She pulled her hair back into a bouncy ponytail and as she settled into manning the front of the small, yet popular bakery, he turned and disappeared into the kitchen to work.

As he listened to the front of his bakery, he worked on baking more pastries and cupcakes, knowing full well that the chocolate lava cupcakes were popular with his customers. They always were and he knew that he needed more just to be able to keep up with the demand. He baked dozens of batches, let them cool before mixing up the airy whipped topping and squeezing the fluffy curls to crown the tops. He sprinkled the tiny chocolate flecks over them before letting them sit for just a few more minutes, buying him time to clean up just a bit before taking the trays out front. The customers that were in the shop beamed with delight at seeing fresh cupcakes and near immediately began buying them in multiples. It made him smile that his work was so well received, and as he turned to head back into the kitchen to keep working, the door opened with a soft chime and a familiar voice touched his ears.

"The defense has no leg to stand on. I submitted the right motions, so if they don't like it, they can talk to the judge... I don't care if the defense is threatening to submit a motion for a change of venue. The trial can be anywhere for all I care. It doesn't change the fact that we have irrefutable evidence of their clients' illegal property acquisitions." The woman said in a firm, confident voice.

Atsushi's brows lightly furrowed as he listened, trying to place the voice that made him halt his work. He stayed perfectly still, just listening and thinking, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't place the voice.

"Look, if you're that worried about it, then do an overview of the case. You'll see that all the defense is trying to do is delay the prosecution... Uh huh... I understand, but I promise I'm right on this. I meet with the judge in an hour, so I've gotta get something to uplift my mood. I'll call you once I'm done... Okay... I understand... Talk to you later... Uh huh... Goodbye."

That voice; That smooth, elegant and feminine voice was so familiar, but it was firmer, harsher almost than what his mind was remembering. They were memories he hadn't looked at in years, hadn't had the time to with going through culinary school and running his own bakery. All he had thought about was baking, but it was baking that put the pieces together.

His eyes opening wide, Atsushi sucked in a breath as he dropped his hand towel onto the stainless steel counter and headed for the front of his bakery. His heart had begun to beat harder instead of faster and as he reached the open doorway, he stopped and stared.

The woman standing at the display case was tall, smartly dressed in a gray business suit with a knee length skirt and modest pumps so they didn't make her even taller than she already was. He hair was pinned up, but he could tell that it was long and as dark as a moonless night. Her skin was pale, porcelain and her eyes were a sparkling silver, but the very thing that confirmed what he was thinking, was the beauty mark beneath her only visible eye; Her right one.

"Welcome to Tatty-Cakes. Can I get you anything?" Atsushi's employee asked cheerfully, standing behind the display case and in front of the woman as she studied what was available.

"Oh gosh... I don't even know yet. It all looks so good. I saw the sign out front that you have chocolate lava cupcakes here? I'd love a half dozen if there's some still available." The woman said with a gentle smile.

Atsushi couldn't believe his eyes, couldn't believe what his heart was telling him, but he knew he wasn't hallucinating. It had to be her, had to be the one person that he had thought lost to the wide expanse of the world and as she smiled, his heart was immediately alight with a feeling he hadn't felt since he was in high school.

"M-Muro-Chin?" He finally spoke, swallowing down his breath just to keep him conscious as the woman's smile quickly died.

Hearing that name, the woman looked up from the girl working the front counter as her silver eyes set on the insanely tall man standing in the open doorway. His hair was the same shade of purple she hadn't thought about in years, hadn't had the time to think about. His eyes were the same large lavender irises that had never failed to make her heart skip a beat and he looked no older than he did the day he was torn away from her. She thought he was gone; Had thought that she had let him slip through her fingers, but as chance would have it, she was standing in his bakery.

"A-Atsu?... Atsu, is that you?" Tatsuki managed to ask, her lips open in a soft gape as she stared.

Atsushi nodded, "Yeah."

"Oh my god... I thought it was just a coincidence about the name, but-" her voice trailed off, "You named your bakery after me?" She asked, swallowing as the back of her eyes began to sting with her realization.

"Yeah... I um... I use a lot of the recipes we came up with back in high school too." Atsushi said as his cheeks began to thrum with a warm blush.

"I'd heard the gossip, but... it just seemed like one of those things that served as a little reminder of how things were. I finally got a chance to come down and see for myself." Tatsuki said as she started to smile.

Atsushi blew out a somewhat nervous breath as he stepped out of the doorway, walking up to the counter where his employee had to crane her neck up in order to look at him, but the woman in front of her didn't have to to nearly such a degree.

"D-Do you have some time? I have a fresh batch cooling if you want those." Atsushi said, his cheeks still burning with his flush.

"Yeah... I have a little bit. Where I have to go is just down the block." Tatsuki said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.

"W-Wanna stay for a coffee?" Atsushi asked, hiding his hands behind his back so she couldn't see him picking at his fingernails.

"Yeah... I'd like that." Tatsuki said with a widening in her smile.

Atsushi returned the smile as he untied his apron and pulled it off, setting it down on the back counter as he sent a simple nod at his employee whom was near gushing her excitement that her boss was sitting down to some coffee with a woman he seemed to know. He lead Tatsuki to a small cafe table in the corner where he pulled out a chair and offered her a seat. She blushed a bit as she set her bag down and sat, smiling the whole time as he scooted her in and went to sit across from her. Despite the years, she never once forgot that even sitting down, Atsushi was tall. He was so tall in fact, that one of his legs had to stick out from underneath the table so his other would have room. It made Tatsuki softly chuckle as his employee brought them a pair of espressos that had been topped with whipped cream made in house.

"You look really great, Atsu. This place looks wonderful." Tatsuki said, nodding her thank you to the girl as she picked up a small spoon to stir in the whipped cream.

Atsushi lightly smiled, "Thank you. It's been a crazy year since I opened." He said, swiping a finger through the whipped cream to bring some to his mouth.

"I've heard. Some of my coworkers rave about this place. They say the coffee is rich and the pastries even richer." She said, tapping her spoon against the rim of the warm mug and setting it down.

"I work really hard to make people happy and so far, it's paid off." Atsushi said, lifting his coffee to his lips and taking a sip of the delightful brew.

"It shows," she took a sip and softly hummed, "Oh wow... This is really good. I've wanted to come by and check it out, but I've been so busy with work." Tatsuki said, setting her coffee down and dabbing her lips dry.

"It sounded like it. You made it as a lawyer?" He asked, resting his elbow down on the table to cradle his chin in his hand.

Tatsuki nodded, "Yeah... I'm an assistant district attorney working agricultural law. I made it a bit further than my dad." She smiled and took a sip.

"How is your dad?" Atsushi asked.

"He's doing really well... I did it, by the way; I stopped Shirō." She said as her smiled softened.

Atsushi sat up, "You did?"

"Yeah... That's what I'm working on now. Not long after you left, Shirō got caught trespassing on other peoples' land. It opened the door for my dad to investigate his family's dealings and we found a trail of illegal acquisitions. His family had illegally acquired the properties via fraud. It's been a long road, but... his family's ruined." Tatsuki briefly explained before taking a sip.

"The greedy are always the first to fall." Atsushi said, swiping another lap of whipped cream for himself from the top of his espresso.

Tatsuki nodded, "How're things with your family?" Her smiled was completely gone.

However, Atsushi smiled, "Better. Turns out that my dad wasn't as hard as I thought. Beneath that shell, he's a good man."

"R-Really?... I thought you said-" Her voice trailed off.

"I did, but at the time, I didn't know that he actually cared." Atsushi said.

"B-But you never came back. Is it because he wouldn't let you?" She asked as the corners of her lips began to turn down.

"You were already gone. When I first got back, I didn't leave my room unless I was going to school, and it wasn't until the day I got your letter that I actually said a word to him. That's when I found out that there was more to him than I thought." Atsushi said, finally stirring his espresso now that most of the whipped cream had been consumed.

"I meant to write back, Atsu, but-" she sighed, "I just got so wrapped up in pre-law and... college that I forgot. I wish there was a better reason why I never wrote you again, but there isn't." She said, her hands wrapped around the mug to absorb its warmth.

"I know... I was never upset with you. I understood why, but that didn't hold off the days where I missed you." Atsushi said, crossing his arms on the table as he studied her face.

"You weren't upset that I abandoned you?" She asked, briefly smiling at him as she held his gaze.

"No... I couldn't even I wanted to." He said in just above a whisper.

At the way his eyes looked at her and the low tone in his voice, Tatsuki's heart tripped over itself, stumbling down the hill she had spent years climbing. She truly did miss him, missed the time they had spend together and the carefree life they had briefly lived and as time had passed, she had had her moments of reminiscing in her own memories. As time had went on, those memories had faded, had become blurry, but sitting at that table, in that bakery and across from him, they felt renewed and whole.

"So um... So is there someone special you share all this with?" She asked, her gentle smile returning to light her eyes.

Atsushi shook his head, "No... You?"

"No. Being a lawyer tends to put a damper on one's love life." She said, returning to sipping her coffee.

"So does running your own business." He briefly laughed that was soon joined with hers that was so familiar, it made his heart flutter.

"I can only imagine. You have flour on your cheek." She said.

However, instead of staying still and letting him take care of the white smear on his cheek, she reached out and brushed it away with the pads of her fingers. The entire time, their eyes never left the others and when she took her hand away, his cheek now cleaned, only then did she feel the returned blush in her cheeks.

"S-Sorry... Just familiar I guess." She said, deciding it best to look down at her swirling coffee.

The moment her fingers had touched his skin, every single memory he had of her flooded into the front of his mind, remembering the feel of her, how soft her lips were and how silky her skin felt. It had been a long time since he had last gotten to feel such a thing that felt like the flour he baked with, but in that single moment, he couldn't keep himself from smiling.

"Are you free tonight?" He asked, earning back her gaze as her cheeks darkened even more.

"U-Uh... Y-Yeah... I am... After my meeting, that is." She said, brushing her fingers through her bangs to sweep them over her left eye.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight? Lora-Chin can close up." He said with a gentle flutter of nerves in his stomach.

"I would... 7 o'clock?" She asked as her smile began to return in force.

Atsushi nodded, "7 o'clock." He said.

Tatsuki beamed before bending down and reaching into her purse, pulling out a small notepad and pen where she quickly jotted down her address and phone number before sliding it across the table towards him. She bit her bottom lip before finishing her coffee and standing from her chair, and with just a wave, she said goodbye and headed for the door to go to her meeting. He understood she had to, she wasn't retreating, but as the door closed behind her, he realized she had forgotten her cupcakes.

With just a soft smile, he headed back into his kitchen to prepare a half dozen cupcakes.

* * *

If there was one feeling that Atsushi didn't like, it was the feeling of his stomach in knots. He hated the sensation of his stomach flipping over itself, threatening to make him taste whatever he ate for a second time. He hated how it made him jittery. Hated how it made him fidget all that much more with his tongue bar and above all, hated how it made him flush with waves of heat.

If there was one feeling that Atsushi didn't like, it was the feeling of his stomach in knots before his dinner date with Tatsuki.

Atsushi blew out a nervous breath as he adjusted his gray vest, tugging it down so it laid perfectly smooth against his large torso. He smoothed it down before adjusting his deep purple necktie, loosening it just a tiny bit to make it easier to breathe before picking up his comb and running it through his blow dried hair. He glared at his flat purple locks, kept smooth and shiny from the small amount of gel he used, but the look didn't satisfy him. It just felt off, so with a huffed grunt, he combed it back and pulled it up into a ponytail.

Feeling much better about his hair, Atsushi gave himself one last look over, nodding his approval at his white and gray suit. His long sleeved white shirt was accented with a light gray vest that was the same shade as his long slacks. His belt was perfectly aligned with his vest's buttons and with the final adjustment of rolling his sleeves up to his elbows, he sighed and smiled.

Finally ready, he slipped his shining silver watch onto his left wrist before picking up his waist coat and the neatly wrapped package he had brought up from the bakery, containing a half dozen chocolate lava cupcakes he had baked only a couple hours prior. He put on his coat, leaving it open since it wasn't all that chilled outside and with one last blow of nervous breath, he picked up his keys and headed out the door.

With having his own business, having a way to get around was a necessity. He stepped out into the back alley of his bakery where his small truck was parked, emblazoned with his bakery's logo on each door. It was an older truck, but thanks to his experiences back when he was a teenager, he found older vehicles to be endearing. Plus, they had the added advantage of being big enough for him to get into.

He unlocked the driver's side door and sidestepped into the seat, setting the package down on the passenger seat before shutting the door and starting up the engine. It grumbled to life, but it was in good repair and it shifted easily into first gear. Ever since learning how to drive a manual, he had fallen in love with it and as he got older, moving through high school and up into college before opening his own business, he had gotten a stick shift simply because he liked it.

He stopped at the end of the alleyway and waited for a break in traffic before pulling out, heading in the direction of Tatsuki's address that she had given him that morning. His phone sat in its cradle on the dash, guiding him towards the entered address that had turned out was only a short drive away in a high rise apartment building near the governmental center of the city. He had picked his spot for his bakery specifically for that reason, as during the weekday, the many businessmen and women would come to his shop to take a load off from their stressful careers. It ensured business kept up and because of it, his strategic location, he had already taken a huge chunk out of his debt.

The short drive was soon over as he pulled into the underground parking garage of the apartment building, parking in a visitors spot and turning off the truck. He looked around at the other cars before stepping out, all of them being high end luxury cars that made his older truck he used for deliveries stand out like a sore thumb. It made the nervousness in his stomach spike, but with a long, unbroken huff of air, he opened his door and stepped out.

Following the wall plaques as he walked the halls, Atsushi took the time to relax, and as he rode the elevator up to the ninth floor, he released the last of his nervousness in a long, single breath. It may have only been a few moments, but it had done the trick and arriving in front of apartment 912, he steeled his nerves and rung the doorbell.

However, when the door opened, Atsushi's nerves thundered uncontrolled as he stared at Tatsuki, her hair pinned up in a messy bun with several bits falling free and with her swept bangs still, and always, covering her left eye. She wore a shapely knee length skirt with the same modest pumps and her top was a lazy tunic style blouse that hung off one shoulder. She wore a black tank top underneath that tied in her skirt and over her eyes was a pair of thick framed black glasses that made her eyes pop with a sparkle.

"H-H-Hi." Atsushi exhaled with his eyes staying wide open as he scanned her up and down.

Tatsuki's own eyes widened as she scanned Atsushi up and down, her lips parting in a silent gasp that soon turned into a soft smile.

"H-Hi... W-Wow... You look really nice, Atsu." She said, stepping aside to allow him to step into her home.

Atsushi hesitated for a moment before stepping passed her, not daring to go further than the small entry table resting against the wall. Her apartment wasn't the largest, in fact, his was bigger, but it was far nicer than his. The floor was polished bamboo and the walls were painted a calm sage green with one wall painted with a mural of a golden field of wheat. The air was fresh, crisp since her home was so high up and on the other side of the living room, was a wide balcony that had a lounge chair and a small glass table where she could sit, relax and admire the view.

"You have a really nice place, Muro-Chin." He said, turning around just enough to look at her as she shut the door.

"Thank you. I fell in love with it when I saw the mural. It reminded me of home." She said, stepping passed him and walking into the living room that only had a couch, a coffee table and a TV in it.

"It looks like Uncle Hiroshi's fields in Spring." He said, following her into the living room and eyeballing the few framed pictures she had hung up on the wall above the couch.

Tatsuki nodded as she picked up her coat and purse from her kitchen table, "It does. I'm ready when you are." She smiled.

Atsushi returned the same smile as he offered her his arm, unable to stop himself from smiling even wider as she beamed and took it with a soft hand. He lead her back to the door and opened it for her, allowing her to step through first before following her out into the hallway. She locked her door and once again arm in arm, they headed down into the parking lot.

At seeing his older truck, she teased him a bit, softly giggling just like he remembered that he hadn't deviated from having a stick shift since she taught him all those years ago. It made him laugh and as they both got into the truck, he headed out onto the street bound for his chosen restaurant.

Despite not a word being said on the drive, the atmosphere was light, comforting as every now and again, they would steel glances at each other. They smiled every time they were caught and after only a short while, Atsushi found an open spot in the street to park out in front of a small evening cafe.

"Oh, I love this place, Atsu! I come here for lunch sometimes when I wanna take a load off from work!" Tatsuki beamed excitedly, unbuckling herself and opening the door.

Atsushi continued to smile as he stepped out of his truck and walked around to her side, holding up the small wrapped package of cupcakes that he set down in her awaiting hands.

"These are for you. You forgot them this morning." He said as Tatsuki's beaming smile somehow got even bigger.

"Atsu-" she exhaled, "Thank you so much! I didn't realize it until I was talking with the judge and I was so sad." Tatsuki said, smiling up at him sweetly as she held the neatly wrapped box close.

"I wanted you to have them. I haven't changed the recipe at all." He said, smiling and shying into his shoulders for a moment before leading her towards the etched glass front doors of the cafe.

"Recipe?... Atsu, are you using ours?" She asked, her mouth soft with disbelief, but her eyes were filled with admiration as he opened the door for her.

Atsushi nodded as he followed her through the door, "Mmhmm... Y-You don't mind; Do you?"

"Oh god, Atsu... Of course not! I'm flattered you thought our recipe was good enough for your bakery!" Tatsuki beamed, holding the small box even closer as if she was trying to protect it.

"They're really popular. When I advertise them, I've really gotta turn them out, or I run out. It's why I had to hire Lora-Chin; She runs the front while I work in back." Atsushi said, holding up two fingers to the hostess to silently tell her a table for two.

"I understand, Atsu... D-Do you use any others of ours?" Tatsuki asked, following the hostess towards a lovely table for two with a burning candle in its center.

"Yes. I make our candy-canes too." He said as he felt his cheeks beginning to burn even hotter.

Tatsuki lightly gasped, placing the tips of her fingers against her lips, "R-Really?"

Atsushi nodded as he slid into the booth, "Yeah. They're mainly a holidays kind of thing, but I've changed it a couple times to make fruity ones for Spring and I've even made an orange cinnamon kind for Fall." He said, watching her as she sat down across from him.

"That's so great. I'd love to try one someday." She said with a widening of her smile that Atsushi couldn't resist.

"I'd like that."

As their eyes met, their smiles softened into ones of endearment, ones that were frozen as if time had stopped around them. For all the years that had passed by; All the years he had been left to memory to see the way her eyes sparkled and how even though only one was typically visible, he could still see her entire face. For all the years that had passed, he could still see her face whenever he closed his eyes, in his dreams and even in those tiny moments whenever he would blink. His heart missed those eyes, her voice, the touch of her skin and now that he sat across from her, seeing the face that had been left to memory, it was like those years never existed.

"D-Do you wanna start over, or pick up where we left off?" Atsushi asked, finally drawing in a breath once his lungs had begun to demand it.

"You really want to? Even after how I left things?" She asked, reaching across the table with her palms up.

Atsushi didn't hesitate as he reached out and took her hands, "You left things as best they could. We got dealt kinda a shit hand."

"It was never shitty, Atsu... Things just got in the way." She said, never once looking away from his purple gaze.

"Yeah... I don't see anything else in our way now." He said.

"Neither do I."

"How about where we left off then?" He asked, starting to smile wider as he fell into her eyes.

At his words, the way his hands cradled hers with a gentle touch despite their sheer size, Tatsuki's heartbeat was the only thing she could hear. It was slow and steady, not at all nervous, or anxious at the thought of being with him again as if time hadn't passed for them. The gentle and kind look on his face was just as calming and as she tightened her fingers around his, her smile grew to as wide and beaming as the sun's rays on a field of gold.

"I'd like that."

From the time of his first memory, of his first steps as a small child and having to grow up in a household underneath a rigid father, Atsushi, for the first time in his life, felt like everything had finally fallen in line. His business was booming, and his relationship with his father and family was better than it had ever been. They ate dinner together as a family once a month, giving each of the five children time to arrange travel all the way back to Akita where their father and mother still lived. His father adored his grandchildren, and once a month, he got to enjoy his youngest son's baking.

In all his life, there was one thing Atsushi Murasakibara wanted, had dreamed about, and that was to have his father's approval. He felt as if he would never get it, but sitting there across from her, across from the woman whom had showed him a different world, he knew, that come the next time he saw the man, she would be by his side and he would get it.

Amongst the fields of gold from a farm that seemed so far away, he knew it would always be with him from now on. He had his bakery. He had his family, and now, he had it all; He had Tatsuki.


	16. Chapter 16

**Epilogue**

 **3 years later**

Three years had whisked by in the blink of an eye, had flown by so quickly that Atsushi had no idea where the time had gone. Between working, deliveries, spending time with Tatsuki and visiting his family up in Akita, three years had been a whirlwind of dates and cakes and for the Tatty-Cakes Bakery in the heart of Tokyo, business was booming with a line out the door.

The day was chilled from the coming winter and the moment be had opened his doors, advertising the seasonal spiced latte and freshly baked and flaky cinnamon pumpkin turnover pastries, business had been nonstop. He had had to call in his second employee just to help handle the rush, but no amount of madness, or demand was enough to make him angry. In the span of the passed three years, he had paid off his debt and had been accumulating profit for several months, so taking a moment while his latest batch of pastries cooled on the counter tops, he stood in the doorway and admired his army of customers.

One after another, from young to old, singles and families, they all happily waited in line to reach the register and place their orders, where the second girl, a shorter, slightly more robust girl than Lora-Chin, would scurry over to make the coffees and package the pastries. Some would stay and enjoy their treats, while others headed out the door to go on with their days, but all had smiles and that, in turn, made him smile.

However, that smile grew to its widest as a new customer stepped through the crowded door, wearing a smart business suit with her hair pinned up and her glasses resting gently on her nose. Her modest pumps clicked on the floor with every step and slung over her shoulder was her work tote bag that she used to cart files around she needed to carry from one place to another.

"Hey, Atsu!" Tatsuki beamed, stepping passed the line as he stepped out from behind the counter.

"Hey, Muro-Chin. On your way to the courthouse?" Atsushi asked as he wrapped her up in his arms and held her close, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her hair.

"Yeah... I wanted to stop by and tell that I may not be able to make it to dinner tonight. The defense on this upcoming case is really trying their damnedest to drown us in paperwork." Tatsuki sighed, holding him for one last second before pulling away and looking up into his eyes that slowly fell down.

"D'aw... Really? But I already made the reservations at the restaurant." Atsushi grumbled with a childish pout as he let his hands rest against her sides.

"I wish I could get out of it, Atsu, but I've really gotta argue for the prosecution. I tried to get someone else to do it, but no one would take it. It's my case." She said with a sympathetic smile, stretching her neck up just enough to place a warm kiss to his pouting lips.

"I understand, Muro-Chin. I'll try to postpone the reservations-" He tried, swallowing his own voice when she shook her head.

"I hate to say it, Atsu, but this case is really draining all my spare time. I'm afraid we're gonna have to postpone indefinitely until this case is over." Tatsuki said with her own frown.

Atsushi's heart stuttered with an ache, "B-But, Muro-Chin... We're supposed to celebrate our third year anniversary and I wanted to do it there. You know reservations need to be made months in advance." He said, grasping her hands and holding them warmly.

"I know, Atsu and I'm really sorry. I'll make it up to you. I promise." She said, smiling up at him as she slipped a hand free and tenderly placed it against his cheek.

All Atsushi could do was softly sigh as he returned the smile, albeit with some effort since he truly was looking forward to his evening with his girlfriend of the last three years. Today was their anniversary, and for the last three years that had been filled with smiles and joy, he wanted it to be special. He had wanted to wine and dine her, had even saved up to take her to one of the most high end places in the city, but once again, her career had gotten in the way. Whenever she had to cancel because of work, he was never angry, or irritated with her. He understood completely and would often make sure she had a meal ready for her when she got home to their shared apartment, but tonight was going to be special. It was the one time he had wanted things to go off without a hitch.

With another sigh, Atsushi smiled again, this time without having to use effort as he clutched her hand and removed it from his cheek. He held them both gently as he reached into his pocket, but instead of withdrawing it right away, he just looked into her eyes and smiled.

"Muro-Chin... If dinner's out then, will you be upset if I do one of the things I had planned then?" He asked, still holding one of her hands in his.

"Of course not, Atsu. I feel really bad about canceling on us again, but work is just so... so... so hectic. I wish it would slow down soon so we could spend some time together." She said, her smile persisting for the moment, but it soon began to drop when he pulled his hand out of his pocket.

Atsushi never looked away from her as he opened his hand, revealing a small, purple velvet box with golden trim. Her smile immediately fell off her face and as the bakery's noise immediately died off, people began to stare and watch as if they were on TV.

"A-Atsu-... W-What is this?" She asked, her voice quiet, but with the silence of the bakery, it was almost as if she had screamed it.

With the weight of what he was about to do resting firmly on his shoulders, Atsushi quietly gulped as he knelt down, earning a round of quiet gasps from the horde of customers watching as Tatsuki yanked her hands away and cupped them over her nose and mouth. She was rigid, frozen solid as she looked down at him, but even kneeling, his head still nearly came up to her chest. Her eyes glistened under the soft lighting overhead and when he reached up and softly took her hand in his, his skilled fingers opened the box to reveal a dazzling, yet simple, diamond ring.

"Muro-Chin... When I first got to my uncle's farm, I felt like I didn't belong and that no one loved me, but then you came. You taught me how to work on a farm and how to milk cows and turn all the fresh ingredients into amazing sweets that I still use to this day. You showed me that living on a farm wasn't a bad thing and that's when I first realized that what made it great, was you." He said, full on ignoring the flipping in his stomach as he continued to look up into her filling eyes.

All Tatsuki could do, could muster, was to keep her available hand over her mouth to keep her throat from squeaking as she watched Atsushi pull the delicate looking ring from its box and hold it at the tip of her ring finger.

"Muro-Chin... I mean, Tatsuki Himuro... Will you marry me?" Atsushi asked, finally daring to slip the ring onto her finger.

Tatsuki's heart was racing, beating so hard and so fast that it was humming with a firm buzz. She could feel her muscles quivering from excitement, shock and a little bit of fear. For the last three years, they had enjoyed living together and dating, often spending nights in just to bake, come up with new recipes for Atsushi's bakery and then enjoy the fruits of their labor. It was domestic bliss, but as much as she tried to ignore it, there had been that growing nag that she wanted to solidify their relationship.

Now, her dreams, her desires, her wishes, were finally coming true.

Finally starting to breathe again, Tatsuki took her hand away from her mouth as a tear wrestled its freedom from her right eye. She smiled wide as she nodded and just as the crowd surrounding them started to cheer and clap, she found her voice.

"Yes, Atsushi... Yes, I'll marry you." She said, her voice popping with her overflow of emotions.

Atsushi finished slipping the ring on her finger as he stood, rising to his full height and gently grasped either side of her jaw. They both were smiling as he bowed his head, resting his forehead against hers and as he stared into her eyes, his own beginning to sting from his joy, Atsushi whispered the very thing he would say for the rest of his life.

"I love you, Muro-Chin."


End file.
